The Probe Saga
by Lil Songbird
Summary: (Redited & posted)Tired of reading B/V get togethers with nothing but fluff or angst? Sink your teeth into a tale about a new threat from space that brings them together. Plus a sub-plot with Mirai Trunks! (Chapter 9)
1. Prologue

06-03-02 note:  
  
I'm reposting this story on ffnet and putting it on some other archives because my webpage is not working anymore and I just don't have the time to try and create a new one (especially since I don't have a very good knowledge of html).  
  
I reedited it (adding a few author comments and paragraphs) other than that no changes have been made to it other than Mirai Trunk's recollection of Gohan's death. The first time I wrote it I hated the way the Trunks Special just had him find the body of Gohan so I changed it. It has since grown on me so I changed it to agree with the special. I've retooled this Prologue quite a bit too adding some more detail.  
  
This was my first fan fiction and I think it was pretty good for a first try although my more recent work is better. I have especially grown in describing the action sequences but as I said I think I made a fair attempt.  
  
If this is your first time reading it then I hope you enjoy it.  
  
Notes on my feelings on the B/V and B/Y issue:  
  
Okay, I have to start out saying I love B/V however I am not among the large group that vilify Yamcha either. I like Yamcha a lot, in fact he is in my top 10 favorite DBZ characters, and therefore I do not portray him as a womanizing drunk that sends Bulma running into Vegeta's arms. Anyone who has seen Dragon Ball knows he is sweet and rather insecure, especially about women, so I seriously doubt he would make a drastic change in character that way. He does flirt with other girls but the cases we see in the anime he never initiates it, however he doesn't stop it either. I think on some level he, like all guys, likes to have his ego stroked by a pretty girl making a pass at him so he plays along. In my story you will notice a few rather negative sounding comments regarding him from an angry Bulma (that's because she is angry) and Vegeta (I don't think I have to explain this) as to how he perceives Yamcha but its not Yamcha bashing. I am merely trying to portray the character's thoughts as I think they would be colored by their emotions.  
  
This being said, why do I think Bulma and Yamcha broke up? To put it simple they were very opposite and grew apart which caused problems. Being somewhat childish (sorry Yamcha fans but I do think at this point in time Yamcha is still rather immature) Yamcha flirts with or takes out (NOTE: I don't think he was unfaithful to the point he slept around or with anyone!) a girl or two. In the past, when Bulma was just as immature, she would have ranted, raved and probably done the same thing and then they would have patched things up. At this point Bulma has gone through a lot on Namek and matured though so she has gotten serious about having a family and settling down and is tired of these games they've been playing. Yamcha, still a little afraid of women and committing to one, is not ready. Enter the third element, Vegeta. I think there is an immediate attraction between Bulma and Vegeta that Yamcha picked up on. Add to this the fact Bulma has always checked out other men regardless of Yamcha's feelings and you have a volatile combination. Basically, I think that Bulma acknowledging her attraction to Vegeta could have been a possibility. This I think drove Yamcha to the breaking point and made him want to punish Bulma by making her jealous so he flirts more. All of this I think led to the break-up of Bulma and Yamcha.  
  
I know some of you out there take issue with the whole translation of what Mirai Trunks said about Bulma and Yamcha breaking up. My pov on this is that though all translations are slightly different they convey the fact that Yamcha was the catalyst to the breakup. Whether he was "unfaithful", "found someone else" or was simply "fickle" Yamcha was portrayed by the translator's as being the one that initiated the breakup and then it is communicated that Bulma fell in love with Vegeta after the break-up.  
  
Original author's note:  
  
Hi,  
  
I'm Lil and this is my first attempt at a fan fic. I originally intended this just to be for my own enjoyment but I decided to share it.  
  
This story takes place during the three years the fighters are preparing for the androids. Yes, this story is technically a B/V get together but it is different than most since the romance is just a subplot with the major part of it being action-adventure. There is also a Mirai Trunks sub plot.  
  
I've tried really hard to make everyone IC and fit into AT's timeline without disturbing it. Reviews are very much appreciated.  
  
Lil  
  
WARNING: I use the Americanized names for the characters for the most part and the Japanese names for the attacks. There are some cases where I prefer the Japanese name for the character though (ie. Tenshenhan, Kaio- sama, Gurdo). If this bothers you then don't read this or any of my other stories.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of its characters and am merely paying homage to Akira Toriyama's genius so don't sue. I do own Flora however so please don't steal her (I'm not sure why you would though).  
  
The Probe Saga  
  
By: Lil Songbird  
  
Prologue  
  
   
  
"Thanks for your help Yamcha" Bulma said sarcastically to the man standing behind her leaning up against a tree.  
  
"From where I stood it didn't look like you needed any help handling him" Yamcha answered. He glared at his girlfriend's back. He wasn't going to try and hide the intense animosity he felt toward the alien who was busy at the moment terrorizing the medical staff of Capsule Corporation.  
  
"You could of at least offered" Bulma snapped.  
  
"Why should I even try to help him?" Yamcha answered perturbed " we'd be better off if he didn't live."  
  
"Yamcha that's a terrible thing to say!" Bulma shouted planting her hands on her hips and glaring at him.  
  
"It's not as if he cares what I think of him" Yamcha shouted back. "Why do you even care Bulma? It's not like he gives a damn if you do!"  
  
"He is a guest in this house and I won't allow you to be rude to him even if he is heartless jerk" Bulma countered.  
  
"Well, excuse me for making you take care of yourself for a few minutes" Yamcha answered not hiding the jealousy in his voice. "It's not like he'd give a damn that you've been sitting by his bedside for a week."  
  
Bulma and Yamcha walked for the next few moments in silence. She hated it when they fought and it seemed to happen more and more often lately. Ever since Yamcha was wished back it seemed things really began to sour between them. "Yamcha" Bulma asked, "What's happening between us?"  
  
"Huh?" Yamcha asked uncomfortably. He knew from Bulma's tone that this would be a pretty serious conversation. "What do you mean Bulma?"  
  
"Don't tell me you haven't noticed that we've been fighting a lot more often lately," Bulma said. "I'm not sure why and I'd like to try and understand why I have the feeling that your angry with me all the time."  
  
Yamcha really didn't want to admit what was bothering him. His mind drifted back to the scene that they had just left a few moments ago. They found Vegeta on the floor of the medical room trying to get up without success and Bulma had run to him in concern just as she had the day the gravity room had blown up. She managed to get him back into the bed and argue him down into staying there. Yamcha knew that if anyone other than Bulma had tried to touch the saiyajin or perform a simple act like pulling the bed covers up around him, as she had, that severe resistance would meet him or her. He knew that Vegeta, despite everything he said or did to make everyone think the contrary, admired Bulma. He couldn't blame him for doing so, there would be something wrong with any man who wasn't impressed by Bulma, but for some reason he felt threatened by the saiyajin's regard for his girlfriend. Any other man he wouldn't of worried about, but for some reason he feared loosing Bulma since the arrogant prince came into their lives.  
  
The day he was wished back his reunion with Bulma had been soured when he noticed the saiyajin prince staring at Bulma. He tried to console himself with the fact that Bulma and Vegeta fought like cats and dogs when he was around (the other half of the time Vegeta went off to Kami knows where by himself) but his concern quickly returned one day when he noticed Bulma gazing wistfully at the prince. When he jealously pointed it out to her she had blushed and admitted it. He could still hear her words: "I admit I was admiring him. Yamcha, even you can't deny that he's pretty nicely built. Not to mention he's kind of attractive in a dark bad boy sort of way. Ha Ha! You should see your face Yamcha! Don't take it so seriously! It's just like someone would admire a painting or a sculpture. It doesn't mean a mean a thing!" Despite her reassurance he couldn't shake the feeling there was something more to it this time than her usual ogling of other men.  
  
When Vegeta returned the first time his jealousy became worse because Vegeta started living with the Briefs. He lived in fear that something would happen between Bulma and the saiyajin so he set out to try and prove that he was just as good a fighter and just as strong as the alien only to be humiliated time and again by Vegeta's superhuman strength, agility and awesome power. His fears multiplied when Bulma cared for the prince so tenderly after his gravity room accident. What was worse was that something had changed between Vegeta and Bulma since that incident. They still behaved the same way but he could just feel it in the air when they were together.  
  
Now, Vegeta had returned once again after another trip into space only this time he was all beat up, as was his ship, and barely alive. Once again Bulma had been sitting by his bedside worrying and fussing over him refusing to leave.  
  
"Why would I be angry with you doll?" Yamcha said trying to steer the conversation off the vein it was taking.  
  
"Don't pull that crap with me Yamcha" Bulma chastised him. "Why is it that every time I want to have a serious conversation with you try to avoid it? Can't you ever take anything but fighting seriously?"  
  
"I take you seriously," Yamcha protested in an irritated fashion.  
  
"No you don't and that's the problem" Bulma began to admit sullenly. "I've never told you how much it hurts me that you don't take our relationship seriously. You flirt with every woman you meet shamelessly even when I'm with you. Every time we have a few words or I can't go with you somewhere you take another girl out. Why just last night you were out with another girl."  
  
The fighter recoiled slightly at the familiar sting of her words. He had been falling into the same pattern with his girlfriend lately. What made her accusation worse was he his rationale for going on date with other girls was far more malicious than a wondering eye. He had thought, he had hoped, she would become jealous just like she was making him feel. "I asked you to go with me, remember" Yamcha grumbled lamely "but you were too busy playing nursemaid to that alien!"  
  
"I'm tired of hearing that excuse. If you just wanted to take a friend with you then why don't you ever take a guy?" Bulma questioned in a scathing tone. "Why is it always a female friend that you decide to take? Is it because you like being the center of attention? You like being thought of as a ladies man?"  
  
"I can't help it if I have more female friends than male friends," he stated in an irritated fashion.  
  
"I'd always hoped that some day we'd get married and now I'm beginning to wonder if I wasn't just fooling myself" Bulma continued. "Yamcha do you ever intend to marry me?"  
  
Yamcha was shocked at the suddenness of her admission. "Sure I will Bulma" he answered quickly "but I'm not ready for a commitment like that right now."  
  
"I don't think you ever will be" Bulma said icily wrapping her arms tightly around her body.  
  
With her words he felt his stomach drop. They had such a tone of finality. "Please Bulma. Calm down there's no reason to get upset…" Yamcha began to protest.  
  
"No Yamcha" she remonstrated vehemently instantly silencing him with surprise. "There is good reason to be upset and the fact that you don't recognize that makes it worse. Unless I see some evidence that you take our relationship seriously then I think we should go our separate ways."  
  
Yamcha wanted to tell himself this was one of their usual fights but the determined set of her jaw and the sudden hardness creeping into her expressive blue eyes said differently. This realization bit into his heart causing a pain that stirred up his self-righteous anger. "I don't believe this!" Yamcha shouted sharply, "You've never had reason to doubt my sincerity before or is it that your just looking for a way out because you've found somebody you like better?"  
  
His words hit their mark boring deeply into her soul. "I can't believe you'd say that Yamcha!" Bulma said defensively tearing up. It was then she saw regret brim in them. He was hurt he was lashing out and he had a right to. She had just dropped a bombshell on him. She sighed looking away into the distance seeking to find the words to explain her actions. "I love you and I've never loved anyone else. I've never been anything but patient with you and faithful to you. I've given you chance after chance but even I have my limits Yamcha. I don't want to be someone's girlfriend for the rest of my life. I want to settle down and have a family before I'm too old to enjoy it."  
  
She looked sad and lost. As always her rare vulnerable moment moved him to shame. "Bulma I love you" Yamcha said quietly "and when you love somebody you're willing to wait as long as it takes for things to be right. That's all that I'm doing. I don't have a steady job and I can't offer you security right now."  
  
"You've never had a steady job as long as I've know you Yamcha and it never bothered me that you didn't" she answered her voice regaining a harder tone "I have more than enough money to support us if we got married. It's not like I don't pay for half of your bills right now anyway. You always pull out the same tired excuses and I'm not buying them anymore."  
  
Her final words erased the momentary lapse of warm feelings he had entertained. He studied her and the haughty tilt to her profile gained him one more reason to be angry. "No matter what I do I just can't seem to please you Bulma" Yamcha finally snapped. "You don't think that I'm good enough for you, you never have. Your always making me feel inferior because you're smarter than me! You are the most selfish, proud and nasty person I've ever met! I don't have to stand here and take your insults."  
  
The woman snapped her aqua head and prepared to bite back at the man only to be shocked to see him actually retreating. He had never walked out on her before. Not in all of the fights they'd had. "Don't ever bother coming back Yamcha" Bulma yelled after him as he stalked off. "Do you hear me?" she demanded only to be answered by the slamming of a car door and the revving of its engine.  
  
Bulma watched him rocket away in a haze of tears. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was being selfish by not wanting to wait anymore but the fact remained that he was being selfish too. He never stopped to consider whether or not his words or actions hurt her. He was always hurting her and breaking her heart whether it was intentional or not.  
  
"It's about time that I moved on with my life," she whispered allowing her tears to flow freely. She sat down beneath a tree and contemplated her life. She felt more alone at that moment than she had ever felt in her life, at least not since she was a little girl.  
  
She never had had a lot of friends. In fact, up until she met Goku she hadn't had any friends. She had intimidated other children because she was pretty and rich. Not to mention that she was sent to more advanced grades because of her intelligence making her considerably younger than the other children. It was funny that her best friend had turned out to be a simple boy younger than she was. She found acceptance and learned the meaning of friendship from Son Goku and the odd band of martial arts fighters that she had shared countless adventures with.  
  
She had never felt lonely from that day she had met Goku when she went searching for the Dragon Balls to fulfill her wish for a man to love her (that was after all what she had decided on after much deliberation between strawberries and love). "It's kind of funny that I'm still looking for the same thing as I was back then," she thought with a sigh. "All this time I was deluding myself that Yamcha was that man. Now that I finally have my head on straight maybe I'll find someone. After all Ba Ba did say that I was destined for a great love affair."  
  
Bulma smiled as she recalled her visit to Muten Roshi's sister when she was a teenager.  
  
"Please Ba Ba" she had begged for the 20th time. "I have to know. I need to know if anyone will ever love me. I'll pay you anything or do anything you want."  
  
"Oh all right" the witch had grumbled "if it will get you to leave me alone I'll do it free of charge."  
  
Bulma sat with baited breath as Ba Ba peered into her crystal ball and "hemmed" and "hahhed". "Well Bulma you will have someone fall in love with you and from what I can see he's a prince."  
  
"A prince?" Bulma had questioned in awe. "You mean that figuratively. That I'll meet my prince charming, right?"  
  
"It's hard to tell" the witch answered. "Magical implements tend to be rather literal most of the time."  
  
"You mean that it's saying my dream man may be an actual honest-to-goodness prince?" Bulma questioned excitedly. "Can you be sure that it means it that way?"  
  
"Sometimes the reading isn't completely accurate" Ba Ba admitted.  
  
"What does he look like?" Bulma questioned excitedly "Can you tell?"  
  
"I can only get so much but here goes," Ba Ba explained. "He's dark, handsome and incredibly strong. That's all I can see."  
  
"When do I meet him?" Bulma excitedly prodded her to continue. "Or maybe I've already met him!" she exclaimed visions of Yamcha dancing in her head.  
  
" That I can't tell" the witch said "but I can tell that once it begins it will be a great love affair. This man is your soul mate and the love of your life."  
  
Bulma laughed a bittersweet laugh as she recalled how enthralled she had been with Ba Ba's prediction. "She probably made the whole thing up just to get rid of me," thought Bulma. At last she dried her eyes and tried to look on the bright side. "It might be good to take a break from romance" Bulma thought. "After all there's more to life than finding a man."  
  
With new resolve Bulma rose and went inside Capsule Corporation to see how the medical staff was handling Vegeta. The first thing she noticed was that it surprisingly quiet in the building. Cautiously she poked her head into the room in which she had left him. Vegeta was by himself and fast asleep once again. She was glad he was resting both for his health and her sanity. She really didn't think she could handle an argument while she was feeling so emotionally vulnerable.  
  
She paused a moment and studied his features. He appeared to have a bit of a smile on his face. "I wonder what you're dreaming about?" she wondered silently. "Are you reliving some sweet memory or do you have any good memories to dream about? Maybe you're just dreaming that you became a super saiyajin and conquered the universe." Bulma smiled to herself as she picked her brain trying to puzzle out what the saiyajin prince was dreaming. She liked enigmas and Vegeta was a living, breathing mystery. Maybe that was why she seemed to like him despite the fact that they couldn't say two words to each other without arguing. When he took off in the spacecraft without warning again everyone believed he was gone for good but she was glad that they were wrong because for some twisted reason she kind-of liked having the arrogant, short, ill-tempered prince around.  
  
She took a moment more to study his countenance. "He's really not that bad looking without a scowl on his face," she reflected quietly to herself. "In fact, he's kind of handsome in a way and the rest of him isn't too bad either. At least having him around is easy on the eyes if not on my nerves."  
  
"Welcome back Prince Vegeta" she whispered quietly into the room before leaving him to enjoy his peaceful slumber.  
  
  


	2. Chapter 1

All disclaimers still apply.  
  
Chapter 1- Something's Coming  
  
Bulma squinted as the glare from the blowtorch hit her eyes. She carefully welded the last joint on the steel structure with the precision that experience had given her.  
  
"There," she said turning off the blowtorch and lifting the visor on her mask "the outer shell is finally finished." She laid the torch down and lifted off the helmet and checked everything over one more time. She enjoyed the feeling of satisfaction that came whenever she finished an important phase of a project. This one in particular gave her a good feeling. It was an upgraded gravity room for her friends to use in their training for the upcoming battle against the androids. This was her contribution to the struggle. It made her feel that she was a valuable member of the z team. This gave her extra incentive to work hard and finish it as soon as possible. For this reason she had taken over the project from her father and was dedicating every bit of her spare time on completing it, that and it kept her mind from dwelling on Yamcha. She had broken-up with that jerk for the last time and she was glad it was over. Yamcha just wasn't capable of being any thing more than a faithful friend to a woman. It still hurt and made her angry though every time she thought about it. She was also lonely although she hated to admit it. The fact that her parents were away made her loneliness even worse. Thus work helped fill the void that love had left.  
  
Suddenly she had the feeling that she was being watched and turned to see Vegeta, arms crossed over his chest, looking her over with a critical eye. This immediately called to her mind that her face and hands were smudged with grease and her sweat-drenched hair was plastered to her scalp. Of all people to see her like this he was the worst. He already called her ugly all of the time and now that she looked like a drowned rat she was sure he'd have a field day. "Here for your daily inspection I see," she said as she walked over to towel and wiped her greasy hands off on it. He said nothing as he regarded her efforts to look presentable. "Well," she finally remarked wringing out her wet hair with another clean towel "are you here to look at the gravity room or me?"  
  
His enigmatic expression changed little as he un-crossed his arms and started toward the door of the unfinished gravity room. "You should have stayed the way you were. It was an improvement" he remarked as he entered the unfinished room.  
  
She frowned slightly at this stab even though she had expected it. He always had to make some sort of disparaging remark about someone or something and she seemed to be his favorite target. However, she had gotten kind of used to it and she could dish it out as well as take it. Besides, he acted the way he did because he didn't know how to act any other way. In fact she sort of felt sorry for him. Sometimes she even wondered if he might get lonely.  
  
"When will my gravity room be ready?" Vegeta asked as he emerged once more.  
  
Bulma winced slightly at his emphasis of my. It was his initial idea for the gravity room but she didn't see why it couldn't be used by Goku as well and had said so before. "A week" Bulma answered closing her compact and putting down her brush, "two at the most."  
  
"No wonder it's taking so long" he said gazing down at her " every time I come here you pick-up your brush and your mirror. You seem to spend all your time preening yourself instead of working."  
  
This irked Bulma "I'll have you know I've done almost 99% of this myself. Just because I'm a genius doesn't mean that I can't take pride in my appearance as well as my work."  
  
"I don't see why you take any pride in either," Vegeta answered "your little toys are far inferior to most race's technology and no amount of attention could ever change the fact that you're ugly."  
  
"I could care less about your opinion of me" Bulma retorted "Your too wrapped-up in yourself to notice anything else. I don't see why either. You'll never be a good enough fighter to beat Goku and the planet you're so fond of reminding everyone your prince of no longer exists. " With glee Bulma noticed that her last statement had hit the mark. She had learned to study his face, his eyes in particular, and could now read his moods rather effectively.  
  
"One day I will best Kakarot and I hope you'll be there to see it" he said "he is a peasant and will always be a peasant. I may not have a planet woman, but I do have the blood of Saiyajin Elite running through my veins."  
  
Bulma rolled her eyes "Is that the best comeback you can come up with Princey?" she said with a smirk. "You're loosing your touch."  
  
"I don't have to defend myself to the likes of you woman" he said in anger. "You are so weak I could crush you with my bare hands."  
  
"I'd like to see you try it monkey-boy" Bulma challenged with a smile. She never would have dared such a statement a month ago but now she no longer feared him. She knew he was powerful and fully capable of executing his threat but her gut told her that he wouldn't harm her. Her smile grew larger with triumph when she noticed the momentary flare of increased fire in his eyes was replaced with a look of perturbed amusement.  
  
"I would" the proud prince began as he once again folded his arms across his chest "but then whom would I get to finish my gravity room?"  
  
"There's always my father" Bulma began "but then you'd probably end up with a combination gravity room and snack bar when he got done. Although that might not be bad considering how much you eat."  
  
Vegeta gave her his now familiar cock-eyed smirk proving he just might have a bit of a sense of humor. "Very well woman you've convinced me to carry out your execution. Since I'm in a good mood you can choose the method of your demise."  
  
"I can't believe that he seems to be playing along with my joke" Bulma thought allowing her gaze to meet his "Just when I thought that I've figured Vegeta out I seem to discover something else that proves I'm far away from truly understanding him. In fact, I wonder if it's really possible to understand him."  
  
"Excuse me" came another voice from in front of them. Simultaneously both Bulma and Vegeta turned to see Yamcha with an odd expression on his face. Vegeta's expression turned to a scowl once again as he simply grunted an acknowledgement.  
  
"Oh hi Yamcha" Bulma said half-heartedly "what brings you here?"  
  
"I'd kind-of hoped we could talk for minute" Yamcha said with a slight tinge of annoyance in his voice "that is if you aren't already too busy with other matters." He punctuated the last statement with a disgusted glance in Vegeta's direction.  
  
"I was just leaving" Vegeta said tersely "I have better things to do than listen to an empty-headed woman's prattle." With that said Vegeta left the chamber without a glance behind.  
  
***  
  
"No!" Mirai Trunks shouted, as he started awake. The anger and fear began to dissipate as he looked around and found himself in his mother's time machine.  
  
He closed his eyes and spoke aloud to himself reassuringly "It was only a nightmare. She's alright." He looked out again into the blackness of space and tried to think of something else but instead he kept replaying the frightening image of his mother being struck down because he wasn't there to protect her.  
  
At last he gave in and switched on the communicator and spoke into it. "Mother can you hear me," he said hoping and praying she would answer. Each second that went by was an eternity and each time he repeated his words was pure torture.  
  
"Trunks" at last he heard his mother's voice coming in over the static "what is it? Are you still there?"  
  
"Yes, I'm here" he said in relief.  
  
"What's wrong," she asked, "you sounded upset?"  
  
Trunks gave an inaudible sigh. He really didn't want to tell her that he dreamed that she had been killed. "Nothing," he said "just a silly dream that's all. I guess I just wanted to talk."  
  
"What about," Mirai Bulma asked.  
  
"I think I know how to find out what's happened to the timeline," he said subtly changing the subject and hoping that she wouldn't realize it.  
  
"How?" his mother asked clearly excited.  
  
"I know how you said I should avoid talking to as many people as I can so I don't alter the timeline too drastically but there's someone here in the past that I think can help, Kami-sama."  
  
"You're saying you want to go see Kami?" Bulma said with concern.  
  
"Yes," The young man said resolutely "I think he can look at the timeline and tell me why our actions in the past appear to have had no effect on the future. I think he can even tell us what to do to make it work."  
  
"I don't like it" his mother said, "I think we should just continue as planned. If you get someone else too involved in working out our problems they may not do something important to the future."  
  
"I know," Trunks agreed "but sometimes it can't be helped. We're flying blind right now. We need some direction or we may do something unintentionally that will damage the future. Right now I think seeing Kami is the lesser of the two evils just like warning everyone of the coming battle and talking to Goku was the lesser of the two evils at that time."  
  
"You may be right" his mother said "but take care."  
  
Just as he was about to answer the warning system on the time machine went off.  
  
"Mom I think it's here" he said sitting up straight.  
  
"Have you fed the coordinates and figures into the system yet?" Mirai Bulma asked her son.  
  
"Almost," Mirai Trunks replied as he typed, "I just wish you were here to do this. You're so much better at this than I am."  
  
"That's why I put in the communications system" his mother replied "so I could talk you through any problems you encountered."  
  
"It's not the same" her son replied with a laugh "Done. Computing now."  
  
"By the way" Mirai Bulma asked, "How are the other enhancements working?"  
  
"Just fine" Mirai Trunks assured her "The propulsion system handles like a dream and ...it's done computing the trajectory."  
  
"Well," his mother asked impatiently "where is it headed?"  
  
Trunks smiled as he brushed a lavender lock from his eyes "Right where it's supposed to, Earth."  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Vegeta sneered as he exited the chamber. Of all the pathetic humans he had met while on earth he despised that pretty-boy Yamcha the most. Not only was he in possession of one of the weaker kis, but also he continually broke his word to the woman who for all intents and purposes (as far as he could gather from his limited knowledge of human customs) was like a trial mate.  
  
"Now what do you want Yamcha?" Vegeta heard Bulma say as he continued to walk towards the house.  
  
Vegeta knew exactly what was coming and he was sure Bulma did as well. Yes, this poor excuse for a life form continually was unfaithful to Bulma and then had the nerve to come crawling back, further demeaning himself, to regain favor in the woman's eyes only commit the same act again. He couldn't understand why the same woman who wouldn't put up with any of his insults could constantly take this weak human back.  
  
"First of all I've got a question for you Bulma" he heard Yamcha's voice say just as he was beginning to get out of earshot "what's going on between you and Vegeta?"  
  
Vegeta stopped dead in his tracks. "What does that mean?" Bulma said echoing his sentiments.  
  
"I mean" said Yamcha harshly "ever since that psychopath decided to help us for his own twisted reasons you've been getting more-and-more buddy-buddy with him all the time."  
  
"And it snows in July" was Bulma acrid but calm retort.  
  
"Indeed" thought Vegeta as he levitated closer to the room in order to avoid detection "imagine Crown Prince of the Saiyajin being friendly with anyone on this backwater planet, especially that woman. Although I do have to admit I somewhat enjoy matching wits with her in debate."  
  
"Then how come every time I come here," Yamcha frustrated began "you too are together and in some kind of conversation."  
  
"They're called arguments Yamcha, not conversations" Bulma snapped "and we can't help running into each other because he now lives in the same house as me. Just what are you trying to get at?"  
  
"Come on Bulma" Yamcha began "you and I both know that you and Vegeta have the hots for each other. "  
  
"Hots?" Vegeta puzzled "damn these humans and their expressions. What does the baka mean? Judging by the woman's cry of anger and disbelief it isn't to her liking."  
  
"He's always checking you out and you primp for him and flirt with him," Yamcha accused "And you even did it right in front of me, your boyfriend. You even told me once you thought he was attractive."  
  
"Oh really Yamcha" Bulma began in a tirade "Just because you check out every woman that walks by doesn't mean I stoop to the same level. If I had ever been unfaithful to you, which, I never was even in just my head, I certainly wouldn't pick an arrogant, self-serving, and cruel bastard like Vegeta to fool around with. Sure I've been nice to him and done a few things for him but that's only because he's a guest in my house and I have to be a gracious hostess or my mother would have a hissy-fit. And as for him the only reason he ever takes an interest in me is to find something to use as ammunition against me in an argument. He has always been and will always be only interested in himself. So you see you have nothing to be jealous about, especially since I told you that it was over between us, and for once in my life I really meant it. So get off of my property now!"  
  
Yamcha came storming out of the room and was distracted enough in his rage that all Vegeta had to do was levitate above his head to remain unnoticed as he exited the building. Vegeta's attention was soon diverted back to the room when he heard the sound of a metallic object being thrown, glass shattering, and Bulma's subsequent crying.  
  
Vegeta slowly peeked in the doorway to see just what the woman had broken in her anger. It was that stupid mirror, and from the look of things she was now regretting having broken it for she was gathering up the pieces and muttering something about a "family heirloom" in between curses and tears with her back to him.  
  
"You shouldn't waste your tears on that fool," Vegeta at last said to her not really knowing why. He normally took delight in watching others suffer but the sight of her in emotional pain disturbed him for some reason.  
  
Bulma jumped and then yelped in pain. "What are you doing there you baka" she asked clasping one hand in the other "You made me cut my hand."  
  
Vegeta was a bit irritated by her response. After all he had actually gone out of his way to say something nice to the bimbo. "That's what you get for becoming emotional woman. Emotions are a waste of time."  
  
Slowly she turned her head to regard him her eyes shining with tears. "I'd rather be hurt and have some trouble now and then than end up like you" she said in cool anger. "Everyone hates you so you're alone with only your pride and hatred. I pity you Vegeta you have a cruel and cold heart, if you have one at all, and live only to murder, maim, conquer and destroy. You think you can just use people and mistreat them because you have power. How dare you look down on me for being emotional! How dare you down on me at all when I've taken you in and was misguided enough to think you'd at least be grateful instead of despising me and sneering at my pain. Well, I've had enough of it and I refuse to be a doormat for you anymore. Here," she said chucking the tool box at him "you can finish your precious gravity room yourself!"  
  
Vegeta barely had time to dodge the toolbox and catch a glimpse at her as she left the room.  
  
"Why that little?" he said his voice trailing off in a growl as he pounded his fist into the wall behind him before he set off after Bulma in a furor to match her own.  
  
***  
  
Mr. Po Po delicately pruned the flowers in his garden. Deep in concentration he tried to decide what to prune next in order to achieve the perfect balance to reflect the quiet order of his abode. At last he knew and slowly reached out the shears to make the cut and carefully began to close the blades around the offending appendage.  
  
CRACK! The sound ripped through the air and caused Mr. Po Po to jump decapitating one of his beautiful flowers. He looked up to see a flash of light and an object appear above him. It appeared to be a ship of some kind and he watched in amazement as it's engines turned down and it began to descend toward the Lookout. At last it touched the ground belching out a cloud of steam and smoke that stung Mr. Po Po's eyes and throat.  
  
He coughed and squinted as the door to the strange craft opened. A young man exited the craft and as the smoke cleared Mr. Po Po had a chance to examine him. He had only one weapon, a sword sheathed in an over the shoulder harness and his peaceful demeanor convinced Mr. Po Po that he had no intention of attacking. He couldn't have been more than 16 at the most yet he had a dignified air about him beyond his years. He had thick and slightly unruly lavender hair and piercing blue eyes touched with sadness. Although he knew he had never seen this teenager before there was something about his facial features that were familiar.  
  
"My name is Trunks" the young man said addressing no one in particular as his eyes roved about the Lookout "and I've come to see Kami-sama."  
  
"I'm not sure that Kami is available right now," Po Po said to him still not completely sure if the young man's intentions were peaceful. Trunks frowned at him and once again he was struck by how familiar he seemed. "I will need to talk to Kami and then I will let you know."  
  
"It's alright Mr. Po Po" Kami said stepping from the shadows of the doorway in which he had been observing Trunk's arrival. "I will see the young man." Kami crossed the space between them as he spoke and stopped in front of Trunks. "Tell me what brings you here from the future?" When Kami said this both Trunks and Po Po did a double take. Kami laughed good-naturedly "I see the fact that I knew where you are from surprises you. The truth is that I observed your visit with Goku from here and he has already asked for my advice as how to best meet the future threat."  
  
"I see" Trunks said "I too have come to ask for your advice."  
  
"Come inside and we will talk" Kami said to Trunks before turning to Po Po "Perhaps you could bring some refreshments for our guest Po Po."  
  
"Of course," Po Po said bowing "I will bring some right away Kami."  
  
Just as Po Po turned to leave and Kami began to lead Trunks away the entrance of a craft into the atmosphere above caught their attention.  
  
Trunks looked up above as the brightly glowing object streaked toward the earth. "And so it begins" he said.  
  
Â  


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- The Quests Begin  
  
Â   
  
The human woman and the Saiyajin prince stared each other down from opposite sides of the room. They had come to this standoff after having the worst fight the two had ever had since they had first laid eyes on each other.  
  
"Did you hear what I said Vegeta" Bulma said finally breaking the silence "Get your things, get out of this house and never come back!"  
  
"The only way that I'm leaving this place is if I'm forcibly removed" Vegeta said with a laugh "and you and I both know that there's no one here on this miserable planet who could perform the task. I'd rather destroy this house before I'd let anyone make me leave."  
  
Bulma knew what he said was true. She didn't doubt that he meant exactly what he said but she didn't want to admit defeat. He had insulted her and eavesdropped on a private conversation and the smug expression on his face made it worse. He knew he had her up against the wall. She couldn't admit defeat now but she didn't know what to do. She was exhausted from physical, emotional and mental strain and she wanted to break down and weep but she wasn't going to give him the pleasure of seeing her cry.  
  
Vegeta watched Bulma fight back her tears. He had already given vent to his anger and knew that nothing more needed to be said. Although he'd won this fight he couldn't help but admire her strength of will. She had a fiery temper and a stubborn desire not to accept defeat to rival any Saiyajin's.  
  
Suddenly an alarm went off breaking the silence.  
  
"Thank Kami" thought Bulma "here's my chance to get out of this." "Out of my way" Bulma said as she ran past Vegeta and headed toward the lab.  
  
Quickly she forgot about her tears and frustration as she looked at the monitor of the console in front of her.  
  
"What does it mean?" she heard Vegeta's voice say from behind as she sat down.  
  
After a brief sigh at not having actually lost him she explained. "My dad built this device to detect the entrance of any foreign body into the earth's atmosphere and this" she said pointing to the blip on the radar screen in front of her "entered the atmosphere 40 seconds ago."  
  
"What is it?" Vegeta said leaning on the back of her chair.  
  
"I can't be sure" Bulma said beginning her explanation " but I can say that its composition is metallic and judging by its trajectory and speed it's going to crash somewhere near here and it's going to be quite an impact."  
  
Since Vegeta could care less about the calculations going on in the screen ahead of him he turned his attention to Bulma as she continued her explanation. "She looks attractive with the sparkle of excitement in her eyes," he thought, " Even though they are a little puffy from her hysterics from earlier they still look beautiful." His thoughts then drifted to a less agreeable subject, what he had heard Yamcha said earlier. "Damn, that Yamcha. Why did he notice me watching her? I don't watch her that often. Even so, I must be more careful not to admire her beauty when others are around. No one must be given any reason to believe I am growing soft enough to care for a weak Earth woman. She means absolutely nothing to me. "  
  
Bulma got up startling Vegeta from his thoughts. "Well, she said, "I'm off." After seeing the bemused look on Vegeta's face she laughed. He didn't understand human figures of speech or customs very well. "It means I'm leaving," she explained.  
  
"Leaving?" he said in surprise.  
  
"Yes," Bulma began to answer now realizing his confusion was also due to the fact that he apparently hadn't been listening to her "to find out what that thing is."  
  
"By yourself?" Vegeta questioned.  
  
"Of course," Bulma answered defensively "you are not invited."  
  
"I do not wish to come" Vegeta snapped, "I merely was surprised that you would be so reckless."  
  
"Reckless!" she exclaimed feeling her anger begin to swell once more.  
  
"Yes," said the Saiyajin Prince nonchalantly "I don't suppose it had occurred to you that the this object might be a spaceship of some kind with unfriendly occupants."  
  
"Of course it has!" Bulma yelled although nothing could be farther from the truth.  
  
"And yet you still wish to go alone?" he asked in disbelief.  
  
"Yes," she snapped back "how many times do I have to say it you stupid monkey!"  
  
"Very well woman go," he yelled in answer as he stormed out of the room "you can rot in hell for all I care!"  
  
Just as he left the room Bulma could hear the sound of the impact and a few seconds later the house was hit with the seismic disturbance created by it. Bulma stumbled to the machine to verify where exactly it had landed, grabbed the box containing her instruments and left on her quest to find the object.  
  
Â ***********************************************************************  
  
Kami scratched his head thoughtfully as the young time traveler finished his explanation.  
  
"I'm afraid I know of no way to find out what you ask," he said apologetically.  
  
Trunks sighed, "Then my visit here was for nothing."  
  
"Well, I wouldn't say that," said Kami with a small smile "I know of someone who probably can help you. However, I'm not making any promises."  
  
"I understand," said Trunks. He watched in fascination as Kami began to talk out loud to the air. He seemed to expect someone named Kaio-sama to answer him.  
  
"This is just great," thought Trunks "I just wasted my time talking to this nut."  
  
"Hello Kami," a voice said out of nowhere startling Trunks.  
  
"Yes, Kaio-sama" said Kami "there is a young man here who I think would benefit from your advice."  
  
"Oh really," said the voice "Would that be you, sitting across the table from Kami?"  
  
"Y-yes," Trunks finally began as the surprise began to ware off "My name is Trunks and I've come from the future."  
  
"The future!" Kaio's disembodied voice said excitedly "can you tell me if Tokyo's baseball team ever comes out of its slump?"  
  
"Huh?" exclaimed Trunks looking at Kami in confusion. Kami merely shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"You don't know then?" Kaio-sama exclaimed disappointedly "I guess I'll have to wait and see for myself how the wager I made with Enma came out. Now what can I do for you?"  
  
"If you can't look into the future to see the track record of a baseball team I doubt you can help me" Trunks said obviously crestfallen.  
  
"You never know until you ask, so ask away," Kaio-sama chirped happily.  
  
"I came back here about a month ago and did something we, that is my mother and I, thought would change the future for the better" Trunks began "however, when I returned to my own time everything was the same as it was before."  
  
"I see," said Kaio-sama "so you want to know why your future hasn't changed even though Goku will be here for the coming battle."  
  
"Yes," Trunks said more than a little surprised that the owner of the voice seemed to know all about his activities.  
  
"The reason is simple," Kaio-sama began "it is impossible to change the future. Once a path is taken it remains. What you have done has only created an alternate timeline. This timeline has branched off from the first and it now exists side by side with the original one. You could say it's something of a parallel universe."  
  
"What?" Trunks cried in despair "There is no way to change the future? Everything we've done is in vain!"  
  
Kami looked on with concern as the young man fought a tide of emotions.  
  
"You may not be able to change your future" Kaio-sama said "but you now have an alternate future to choose from."  
  
"What do you mean?" Trunks asked hopefully.  
  
"I mean" Kaio-sama said, "You now can decide which future you wish to exist and erase the other."  
  
"How can I do that?" Trunks said in a pleading tone.  
  
"Before I answer that you must know this" Kaio-sama said "choosing your destiny is one thing but choosing the destiny of the entire universe is quite another. Anything that you may do to better your own situation may adversely affect someone else. You have no way of knowing if what you have done has had the desired effect or harmed those you intended to help or harmed others. No one can see the future and once one timeline has been erased you can never bring it back. You will only have one chance to erase a future so you must be certain your decision is for the best of the many and not the few."  
  
"I know what you are saying to be true," Trunks answered "but any future is better than mine."  
  
"Can you be sure?" Kaio-sama asked, "How do you know that the other future you created hasn't turned out to be worse than yours?"  
  
"If the earth's forces defeat the androids then it can be nothing else but better," Trunks replied.  
  
"What if they didn't?" Kaio-sama asked.  
  
"Then there would be no use in choosing one future over another." Trunks answered, "I will do as planned, I will watch key events to be sure they remain the same and then I will see what the outcome of the battle is. If the earth's forces are victorious I will erase my future, if they are not I will not erase either."  
  
"Very well," said Kaio-sama obviously pleased with his answer "to erase a future you must request a wish from the Eternal Dragon."  
  
"What" Kami exclaimed, "If I have no control over time how can the Dragon have the ability to  
  
grant such a wish?"  
  
"The Dragon can only do for earth what is within the Dragon Ball's creator's power to do," Kaio-sama began "but it does not exist in your dimensional plane. When he is called he leaves his plane and travels to yours. The dimensional plane he is from can touch time itself and there he has no limitations to his power."  
  
"Then," Trunks stated, "all I have to do is collect the Dragon Balls here and after I know the results of the battle I can make my wish."  
  
"Yes" Kaio-sama stated, " I wish you luck on your quest."  
  
"Thank you." Trunks said.  
  
"I too wish you luck," said Kami "if there is anything I can do to assist you."  
  
"There is one thing," Trunks said "when I gather the Dragon Balls can I leave them here?"  
  
"Of course," Kami said.  
  
"Thank you," Trunks said as he began to leave. As he climbed into the time machine once more he resolved to do whatever it took to give these people in the past victory so that he could erase his morbid future.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Goku happily got another chopstick full of rice ready to scoop into his mouth when he was distracted by a loud bang.  
  
"What was that?" Krillan, who was a guest in his home that afternoon, asked.  
  
Goku, Chi Chi and Gohan looked questioningly at each other. Suddenly the room began to shake and Goku watched in despair as his shaking hand sent the rice flying everywhere, Chi Chi dropped the tea cup she was holding, Gohan dropped his bowl and Krillan ducked down to cover his head. Then the shaking stopped.  
  
"Oh no, the lunch is ruined Chi Chi" Goku said in despair looking around at the food plates that had landed on the floor.  
  
"I'm just glad that no one got hurt" Chi Chi replied "I can always go out and pick some food up."  
  
"I wonder what it was," Krillan ventured as he sat up straight and looked around himself surveying the pictures and knick-knacks that the tremor had sent crashing to the floor as well.  
  
"I'm going outside to see if I can find out what it was," said Gohan starting to run out.  
  
"Oh Gohan be careful!" Chi Chi called after him. She then turned her attention to her husband "Goku you go out there and bring him back in! Who knows what's going on out there?"  
  
"Sure Chi Chi" Goku said with one of his goofy smiles.  
  
" Look at this mess," Chi Chi said looking from it to Krillan "it's a good thing I have help to clean it up."  
  
"Uh," Krillan stammered backing his way to the door "I'm going out to look. See ya Chi Chi." With that he turned and ran out on Goku's heels.  
  
Goku came out to see his son staring at a large cloud of dust and debris rising into the sky.  
  
"What do you think it is Dad" Gohan asked "an explosion?"  
  
"Maybe," he said "at least whatever it was happened in the wilderness. Chances are good that no one was hurt."  
  
"Wow" Krillan said as he came up from behind "You don't suppose it's a spaceship do you?"  
  
"You don't think the androids are here already do you?" Gohan asked worriedly.  
  
"No" Goku assured him "they aren't due for quite a while yet."  
  
"I don't feel any new Ki" Krillan added "so I don't suppose it's a fighter."  
  
"Do you think we should check it out Dad?" Gohan asked.  
  
"I'm not sure," he said scratching his head "I don't suppose that it would hurt though."  
  
Suddenly, in the sky above them, was a flash of light accompanied by a loud crack. The three of them looked up and watched as the strange craft that had just appeared descended towards the earth and they felt the familiar Ki within.  
  
Â  


	4. Chapter 3

All disclaimers still apply.  
  
Chapter 3- Probe  
  
Bulma squinted trying to make out the object through the remaining dust that still hung in the air. She had already used her instruments to determine no life forms were inside the cylindrical structure so she decided to approach the object to investigate it a little more closely. She brought along a high-powered laser blaster, just in case, and her toolbox containing her instruments and tools.  
  
As she approached the object she could see that it was indeed metallic and judging from the loud hum that it was a machine of some sort. When she was just ten feet away from it she set down her toolbox, hefted the large blaster onto her shoulder and cautiously approached it. It was large rising at least 10 feet above her head and its circumference was wide enough to park two cars end to end on it's flat roof. As she slowly walked around it she marveled that it appeared to be made entirely of one piece of metal. The only seams present appeared to be surrounding a door. It was a strange door however, hanging at least 5 feet above the ground and oval in shape. No engines were visible, no weapons were evident and no windows were in the object at all. Just as Bulma began to relax and consider getting her instruments the door opened with a hiss. She stepped back and aimed her gun at the door.  
  
"Easy Bulma" the frightened woman told herself "Don't shoot unless you have too. You don't want to make a bad impression if what-ever-it-is is peaceful and friendly."  
  
A large egg shaped metal object floated out the door and descended until it was hovering about a foot off the ground. It appeared to have a round lens of some kind near the domed top and four seams running down either side. Bulma watched in astonishment as the flaps, delimitated by the seams, opened up and the object moved and transformed itself before her eyes into what appeared to be a robot.  
  
"Wow" Bulma thought "this so amazing and I'm the first person on Earth to see it!"  
  
The robot had two mechanical arms with pinchers on the end was now covered in a network of holes. She watched in fascination as a blue light shone through the lens and the dome slowly began to rotate allowing the beam to scan the area.  
  
"It must be a probe" Bulma thought excitedly "a probe sent here to Earth to gather information and be the ambassador for it's people to the human race and I'm going to be it's first contact!"  
  
When the light reached her it stopped and slowly began to scan her from head to toe. The object then began to whirr and beep and speak in a strange tongue.  
  
"It's trying to communicate with me!" thought Bulma "Hi" Bulma said, "Welcome to Earth!"  
  
The object whirred and clicked and moment more and then a metallic voice spoke "Subject: Human, female. Height: 5' 7" Weight: 104 lbs. Power Level: 5. No detectable fighting powers. Dispose of immediately."  
  
"Dispose of!" Bulma repeated worriedly. She let out a squeal of fear as artillery suddenly protruded from the holes surrounding its frame. "Okay you asked for it!" Bulma yelled and she aimed and fired at the probe. The kickback sent her sprawling on her back, knocking the wind from her lungs. As she gasped for air she watched the explosion engulf the machine. "Too bad… I…had to destroy… such…a wonderful…machine" Bulma commented between gasps setting the blaster down.  
  
With horror she watched, as the robotic probe emerged from the wake of her assault totally unscathed. Desperately she reached for her gun and screamed in fear and frustration as the probe took it out with one of it's own laser cannons. She got up and began to run doing her best to dodge the lasers.  
  
"I got to reach the air car!" She thought in desperation. As she neared the car it suddenly went up in a powerful explosion that knocked her down and almost rendered her unconscious. She heard the robot begin to draw closer.  
  
"It's probably coming to see if I'm still alive so maybe if I play dead it will leave me alone," Bulma thought to herself keeping her eyes closed. Suddenly she heard a familiar buzz and realized that it was scanning her.  
  
"This is it," she thought squeezing her eyes tight "I hope it's quick and painless." She heard it's guns lock and fire a volley toward her and she held her breath as she waited for it to hit her.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"You need me to bring you the Dragon Radar?" Goku asked Mirai Trunks one more time. They were in Goku's bedroom so they could speak in privacy.  
  
"Yes," Trunks said "my mother probably won't mind lending it to you. I'll give it back to you as soon as I'm done with it."  
  
"But what do I tell her?" Goku asked.  
  
"Just tell her an emissary is collecting them for Kami in case they're needed," Trunks said looking at the Saiyajin that stood in front of him. "It's hard to believe this simple and gentle person is the most powerful fighter in the universe," he thought. Suddenly the sound of a far off explosion caught Goku's attention before he could answer. A loud knock came at the door.  
  
"Dad," Gohan's muffled voice came through the closed door "there's been another explosion Krillan and I are going to check it out!"  
  
"Go with them" Trunks said opening the door "you're needed. I'll meet you tomorrow at Kami's Lookout to get the Radar."  
  
"I'll be there," Goku promised before running out after his friend and his son.  
  
Trunks stepped out of the room and came face to face with Chi Chi. "I'll let myself out" he said to her before she could open her mouth. He wanted to avoid conversation with everyone he could.  
  
As he stepped out of the doorway he watched as the three fighters hurriedly flew to the site of the explosion.  
  
"Help is on the way mom," Trunks whispered with a smile.  
  
  


	5. Chapter 4

All disclaimers still apply.  
  
Chapter 4- Bulma's Rescue  
  
"This is it" Bulma thought squeezing her eyes tight "I hope it's quick and painless." She heard the robotic probe's guns lock and fire a volley toward her and she held her breath as she waited for it to hit her.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she heard a scream of fear and rage from behind her.  
  
She opened her eyes in time to see the laser beams struck with a beam of energy. The subsequent flash of bright light blinded her before she could turn away. She tried to open her eyes to make-out the figure, which now stood between her and the probe, but her eyes hurt too much and everything appeared to be surrounded in a fog of light. She closed them again and furiously rubbed them hoping the pain would soon stop.  
  
"Who is it?" she thought.  
  
"GALLIC HO!" she heard a familiar voice cry.  
  
"Vegeta?" she wondered in silence "it was Vegeta that saved me?" She tried to open her eyes once again and this time, although her vision was still a bit blurry, she could make out the figure that stood with his back to her. It was masculine with a muscular frame and a shock of black hair that stood up straight in the air resembling a flame. It was indeed Vegeta.  
  
Although she had to keep blinking she could see that the probe was enveloped in the explosion of energy from Vegeta's powerful attack.  
  
Vegeta looked over his shoulder and down at her. "I told you that you shouldn't of come alone woman," he snapped.  
  
She moved her eyes from Vegeta's face once again to the dissipating explosion. "Not again" Bulma wailed as she saw the probe emerging unscathed.  
  
"Damn!" Vegeta exclaimed as he beheld it as well "What is that thing anyway?"  
  
"I think it's a probe of some kind" Bulma answered relieved to find that her sight was rapidly returning to normal now.  
  
The blue light shot out and scanned Vegeta from head to toe. "What the hell was that for?"  
  
"It was scanning you. Next it will start reciting it's reading of you and then it will start shooting" Bulma replied with concern.  
  
The machine began to whir and beep even as Bulma spoke. "Subject: Male, Saiyajin. Height..." the probe began.  
  
Bulma squealed in surprise as Vegeta turned, scooped her up into his arms, and was airborne in one quick fluid motion.  
  
"What are you doing?" Bulma demanded in fear as her now fully restored vision gave her a perfect view of the ground rapidly falling away below them. As the realization of how high they were going struck her she threw her arms around his neck, held on to him tightly, and focused her gaze on his face. "Where are you taking me?" she asked trying desperately not to think of how high in the sky they were.  
  
"You don't want to be there when it starts shooting again do you?" Vegeta gruffly answered. He ventured to look down at her face and saw the fear traced across her features.  
  
Bulma looked on in surprise as his expression softened while he looked down into her face.  
  
"I'm taking you somewhere safe," he said in as reassuring a tone as he could manage squarely meeting her gaze with his.  
  
Bulma ventured a timid smile and when he answered it with his own cock-eyed smirk all at once all her fear vanished. As she looked on suddenly Vegeta's eyebrows forked, he tightened his hold on her, his expression hardened, and he looked over his shoulder. Bulma looked over his other shoulder and saw the probe in hot pursuit.  
  
"Now what do we do?" Bulma cried in desperation.  
  
"We loose it" came Vegeta's answer. "Hold-on tight."  
  
Before Bulma had a chance to follow his instructions he whipped around and doubled back on the machine. Bulma shouted not only in surprise, as she had almost lost her grip on him, but also in disbelief because they were rushing at the probe head-on and it started to fire.  
  
****  
  
Goku, Gohan and Krillan hung in the air above the canyon below looking down at the astonishing sight. The first thing that caught their attention was the burning remains of an air car. They landed next to it, spread out, and tried to see if anyone had survived the explosion.  
  
Goku's attention was drawn to a smoking pile of metal, melted plastic and circuits over closer to the strange cylindrical craft in the crater below. As he tried to make out what it had been he then noticed the knocked over box not far away and, after a quick glance towards the cylinder, went to investigate. When he reached it his heart sank as he read the inscription on top of the box that proclaimed its owner to be Bulma.  
  
"Oh no!" he heard Krillan call from behind. "Come look at this!"  
  
Goku hurried over and reached Krillan just behind Gohan and looked down at the object to which his friend was pointing. It was a piece of the air car and stamped on the side was "Capsule Corporation."  
  
"You don't think that Bulma was in that car?" Krillan questioned in concern.  
  
"I don't know" Goku said "but I found her toolbox over there." He pointed behind them to the spot.  
  
"Dad," Gohan said, "Do you think she's..."  
  
Goku put his hand on his son's head and ruffled his hair reassuringly. "I don't think she's even here Gohan," he said reassuringly. With that Goku reached out searching for the Ki of the woman who had been his friend since childhood.  
  
Gohan looked up into his father's face to see the intense look of concentration on it and was about to say something when he noticed another all too familiar Ki approaching from the west. Gohan slipped out from under his father's hand, who didn't seem to notice, and turned to face it.  
  
Krillan turned to look at his two friends. He was about to say something to Goku when Gohan broke away from his father took a few steps and faced the West. He then too detected the Ki of the figure fast approaching them.  
  
"Hey guys!" Goku suddenly shouted with glee "I found her!"  
  
"Where is she?" Krillan exclaimed turning his attention back to Goku.  
  
"Is she alright?" Gohan chimed in looking back over is shoulder.  
  
"She's over that way," he said pointing northeast "she seems just fine, and she's not alone."  
  
"Who are you talking about?" Piccolo asked as he joined the group.  
  
"We're talking about Bulma," Gohan said with a smile of greeting to his mentor.  
  
"It looks like she was attacked here" Krillan started in not bothering with a greeting "but got away with someone's help."  
  
"Yeah," Goku added, "she's headed northeast at a very high speed and Vegeta is with her."  
  
"Vegeta!" the others exclaimed in disbelief.  
  
"Yes," Goku said trying to stifle the laugh their expressions generated "and I think there's trouble judging by the rate his Ki is raising." "If they only knew the half of it," Goku added to himself.  
  
"Do you think we should go help?" Krillan asked his friend.  
  
Goku was about to answer in the affirmative when he noticed something emerging from the cylinder. The others quickly turned to see what had caught Goku's attention and were surprised to see an egg-shaped machine hovering toward the ground.  
  
***  
  
Bulma closed her eyes, buried her head in Vegeta's chest and held on with all her strengthen as they barreled toward the firing probe.  
  
Vegeta opened his senses as far as he could and concentrated on dodging the on-coming hail of laser fire. He successfully avoided several when he noticed that the next volley was coming from all guns at once making it impossible to completely evade. Taking a deep breath he dove down below the machine much earlier than he had planned to. He suppressed the grunt of pain trying to escape from his lips as he felt the hot laser dig into his shoulder much too close to the woman's hands who clung to him in fear. Just as he had hoped, they were safe from further fire for the moment because the underside of the probe had no guns and it seemed to lack the ability to change directions quickly. Vegeta used this opportunity to drop down into a narrow chasm just below him.  
  
Bulma then dared to open her eyes and look out once again. They now were flanked on either side by tall rock walls and a jagged chasm stretched out in front of them. She looked up above them and saw the probe descending. Vegeta apparently had noticed as well because he slowed his speed down to match the probe's. She thought it best not to try and say anything because of the intense look on the Saiyajin Prince's face.  
  
Vegeta fought hard to concentrate as he tried to keep his attention on the two tasks at hand: navigating the jagged crevice's twists and turn's and keeping himself and his passenger out of the probe's line of fire by keeping it just above them. He knew if he got too far ahead of it that it would drop down into the chasm behind them and they'd have no hope of escape. For a while it seemed to work. The probe clearly tried to maneuver the saiyajin into its line of fire by slowing down and speeding up at varying intervals. It also tried to drop down behind them several times but each time Vegeta was able to counter.  
  
Bulma marveled at the implications of the machine's calculated behavior. It was almost as if it could think and plan. It seemed to have possession of true artificial intelligence, something that had so far the earth's technological geniuses could not create. Suddenly she became aware that they were accelerating very rapidly, looked up and saw the reason why.  
  
The probe was forcing a speed duel as it tried to race ahead of them. Vegeta was finding it harder to split his concentration. The faster they were going the more attention he needed to pay to the treacherously winding path he was racing down. He knew something was stewing in the mechanical mind of their pursuer but he couldn't figure out what it was. He also knew they were fast approaching his destination, the end of the chasm, and he had to be ready to carry out his plan when he reached it.  
  
Suddenly he became aware that the probe had stopped and was dropping down behind him. With the rate of speed they were going it was impossible for him to slow down enough to cut-off the probe's descent. Quickly he did the only thing he could and sped up hoping to leave a big enough gap between himself and the probe to get Bulma to safety before it caught up to them.  
  
In his rush to round the next corner he miscalculated slamming his injured shoulder and one of her arms into a jagged outcrop of rock. The pain from his injured shoulder caused him to loosen his grip around her waist. Unable to compensate or hang onto his neck because the impact had broken her arm Bulma could only scream as she began to fall backwards. Vegeta felt her slipping from his grasp but there was nothing he could do to regain his grip on her. Unsure of exactly how it happened Bulma found herself falling headfirst toward the rocks below.  
  
Without thinking Vegeta dove head first after the falling woman. In a short burst of speed he was able to reach her and grab her around the waist with both arms and flip over so that they were right side up again before landing on the canyon floor on his feet.  
  
He managed to set her on her feet and slowly released his grip on her but her recent brush with death had left her shaky and unable to stand on her own so she leaned back into his arms once more. The force with which he had grabbed her had pushed most of the air out of her lungs so she breathed deeply trying to fill them once more. In a haze of dizziness caused by the pain of her broken arm and her brief loss of oxygen she looked up to see the probe looming above them.  
  
  


	6. Chapter 5

All disclaimers still apply.  
  
Chapter 5- Flesh and Blood vs. Circuits and Chrome  
  
   
  
Vegeta heard the mechanical drone of the probe and looked up to see it carefully negotiate the corner to head into the canyon in which he and Bulma now stood. He felt the icy tentacles of fear trying to get a grip on his mind. He had not felt fear in a long time. He had long ago steeled his nerves to all emotions that could distract him from battle. But this was no ordinary fear. It stemmed from the presence of the woman that now leaned against him for support. It was the fear that he had failed to protect her.  
  
"No," he thought, "I can't give up now. There still is a chance." He reached up with one hand and grasped her chin firmly and cocked her ear toward his mouth. "Listen to me woman," he said with authority "there is a cave behind us. When I let go of you I want you to run for it and not come out until I tell you. Do you understand?" She stiffly nodded her head and that was all he needed to act.  
  
Disengaging his grip on her he flew straight for the probe and slammed it into the canyon wall with his good shoulder. Despite his instructions Bulma was surprised by his sudden move and struggled to keep her balance.  
  
"Run you idiot!" Vegeta barked at her as he hammered the probe into the ground by giving it a double axe handle from above before it had a chance to right itself.  
  
Startled from her stupor Bulma turned and spotted the cave and began to run for it. Her lungs, still not recovered from the air being forced from them, burned with her exertion and the pain that shot through her arm with every stride was almost more than she could bear. Bulma was in a dizzy haze and began to feel that her legs would no longer support her weight but she determinedly pressed on towards her goal refusing to slow down or give up. When she reached the cave she collapsed at the entrance and struggled to keep herself from totally loosing consciousness.  
  
Vegeta swore under his breath when he saw that she had not made it all the way into the cave. Now he had to keep it from firing at her. He had to be sure that he was a more interesting target than she was until she got all the way inside.  
  
He used his rage to channel his energy into his hands. "Okay you bucket of bolts" he yelled at the device "take this!" With that he fired two successive ki blasts at the machine. It dodged them and fired at him as he flipped up over its top and shot a third burst of energy at it from above.  
  
Bulma turned her head and watched as Vegeta flitted around the machine firing off attack after attack. She had rarely been this close to a battle and she didn't want to be any closer. She gathered her last once of strength, fortified her determination, pushed herself up off the ground and staggered into the cave. Inside at last she fell to the ground once more and this time did not fight as the blackness overcame her.  
  
He watched with satisfaction as Bulma disappeared into the cave because now he knew that he could fight without having to worry about her getting harmed in the crossfire. Seeing as how his physical attacks had faired better against the machine than the energy attacks he decided to try to take out some of it's guns with shear brute force.  
  
Powering-up he ran headlong at the machine leaping from side-to-side to avoid its lasers. At the last minute it he jumped to the side and hit one of the laser canons with a powerful roundhouse kick. Suddenly he screamed in agony as he was struck with a tremendous jolt of electricity.  
  
***  
  
Goku, Krillan, Gohan and Piccolo stood aghast before the robotic machine as it began to recite each of their races, heights, weights, and current power levels. It even calculated that Gohan was Goku's son. No one knew precisely what to do because the whole course of events since the strange machine had appeared and transformed had taken them so much by surprise.  
  
"Destroy all subjects," the machine at last declared after it finished its recitation.  
  
Any confusion felt was soon short-lived when the probe unveiled its awesome arsenal of firepower. Goku was the first be fired upon and he barely had time to get out of harms way by executing a handspring. Gohan shot a burst of energy at the probe as it attacked his father and stood in disbelief as it made no dent in the machine. He was rewarded for his efforts by being targeted himself and was forced to dodge and block it's onslaught.  
  
Piccolo and Krillan came under fire at the same time as Gohan and Piccolo retaliated with a stronger burst of energy that seemed to have no effect.  
  
" KIENZAN! " Krillan cried releasing his attack. He watched in surprise along with everyone else when it ricocheted off the probes tough skin.  
  
Goku felt the world go out of focus as he let his instincts take over. His mind turned into a sponge taking in everything around him but especially the actions of his opponent. After a few minutes of dodging and blocking Goku noticed a slight hesitation in the machine as it compensated to his comrades new patterns. He powered-up encasing himself in a protective shield of ki energy and shot up into the air above the probe readying himself for his assault. He then concentrated all the energy coursing through his body into his hands carefully focusing on the machine. The probe's guns shifted slightly and stopped as they were presented with his apparent open and defenseless status and he let the wave escape his hands shouting "KAKAHAMEHA!" The probe was slammed into the ground with the force of the attack and the resulting explosion nearly knocked the others off their feet.  
  
Goku slowly descended back to the ground amid the congratulations of his comrades as the cloud began to fade. Although it appeared he had succeeded for a moment the probe once again emerged with barely a scratch amid the shouts and cries of surprise.  
  
"What is that thing made of anyway?" Krillan asked nervously, "We're not even making a dent in it!"  
  
"If energy attacks fail" Piccolo said calmly "then try physical attacks". He tore off his cape and turban and rushed forward with a mighty scream powering-up as he ran. The probe targeted him forcing him to vault right and left evasively. Then at the last minute he jumped into the air and made his arms grow smacking it into the ground once again.  
  
Seeing the probe's vulnerability Gohan rushed forward and kicked the probe with so much force it skidded across the ground digging a channel in the soil. This time the probe did appear to sustain some damage and faltered as it tried to right itself.  
  
Krillan noticing it was still recovering from Piccolo and Gohan's powerful onslaught he flew toward the prone machine. Gohan decided to make the attack a double threat and accelerated through the air to impact it as well. The moment they both hit the probe it sent out a powerful jolt of electricity that sent the two small warriors sailing through the air. Krillan was able to right himself in the air despite feeling woozy and weak but Gohan hit the ground and lay motionless.  
  
With a cry of anger and despair Goku tried to reach his son but was met with fire from the probe that cut him off. Piccolo also tried to reach him but was met with the same onslaught.  
  
"Krillan!" Goku shouted to his best friend "get Gohan. Piccolo and I will hold the machine off!"  
  
With a nod Piccolo agreed and he and Goku attacked the machine as Krillan swooped down and grabbed the injured boy. The electrical jolt had taken a lot out of the diminutive monk so it was only shear will power that allowed him to carry the boy through the air dodging the stray shots as he went. He saw no place to take the little half-saiyajin but behind the cylindrical craft. Krillan dove into the crater and ran with Gohan to safety.  
  
Catching his breath he looked down at the boy's face and tried to detect some sign of life.  
  
Suddenly, he felt his Ki fading. "Gohan!" Krillan cried, "Come on buddy! We can't loose you!" Although he was weak Krillan knew that he was his young friend's only hope for survival. He concentrated and laid his hand on Gohan's chest and reached out for the boy's Ki with his own.  
  
****  
  
Vegeta flew through the air from the electrical jolt and was slammed into the canyon wall. As he tried to refill his lungs with air the merciless machine shot a volley of lasers. In a rage he brought his hands up before himself and unconsciously brought his ki up another level so that a fiery aura surrounded him that protected him from the volley.  
  
"You'll pay for that!" he screamed rising into the air "GALLIC HO!" This time, however he concentrated the beam so that it didn't explode upon impact and aimed it at an already damaged area. Throwing everything he had into the attack he tried to rupture the probe's seemingly impregnable skin and expose its vulnerable inner-workings.  
  
Suddenly the probe began to shake and Vegeta grinned in triumph pouring all of his strength into the energy beam. The probe then whirred and shot up a force field blocking his attack.  
  
He cursed feeling his cool anger rise once more. "This thing is unbelievable" he thought to himself "it repels the attack I use to vaporize planets as if it were nothing." The probe began to fire but it was unable to penetrate Vegeta's powerful aura. "I need to hit it hard so that I can pull off the attack before it has time to recover. The only thing that seems to do any good in that way was a physical attack but now I can't even do that without it electrocuting me unless." Suddenly the Saiyajin Price got a wicked smile on his face and he flew like a shot down to the ground.  
  
He lifted a large rock and hurled it toward his target with all his might. Even with the force field the probe was knocked to the side.  
  
"Perfect" he thought to himself " I just need something a little larger." His eyes fell on one of a group of boulders that hung precariously close to the edge of the cliffs that surrounded him. He shot a large ball chi of energy at the group and watched as the probe was helplessly knocked to the ground and struck by boulder after boulder. At last the probe dropped it's shield and listed to the side.  
  
"GATLIC GUN!"  
  
Once again the probe began to shake under his concentrated energy attack. With once last battle cry he shot enough energy into the probe to vaporize a large planet. The explosion nearly knocked him from the sky with its force. Vegeta watched as the clouds began to clear and was aghast to find the probe hovering there, battered but still in one piece. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was beginning to tire. He had used up so much of his energy already in the battle that he doubted he could keep up the fight much longer. The Saiyajin prince set his brow realizing there was only one way to destroy the machine once and for all and he would only have one chance to do it. He descended to the ground once more and prepared to make his final attack.  
  
  


	7. Chapter 6

All disclaimer's still apply.  
  
Chapter 6- Secrets  
  
   
  
Goku blocked the onslaught of laser fire with his aura and fired off attack after attack trying desperately to keep the machine busy. Although he was honed in on the battle he allowed his mind to reach out to his friend and his son. He was pained to find Gohan's ki slipping away. He fought back his fear and frustration at not being able to reach him. He looked over at Piccolo knowing that he must sense it too. Although he did not quite understand the bond that had arisen between his son and the Namek he knew that his grief must closely match his own.  
  
He could feel the fight as a weakened Krillan tried to strengthen Gohan's Ki with his own. He knew his friend would do his best to keep his son alive but he felt that he should be the one with Gohan now and his anger rose against the machine that was keeping him from protecting his boy.  
  
Goku allowed his feeling to infuse his inner being and powered-up, with a shout, until he felt the energy of his ki coursing through his body. "KIAO- KEN ATTACK!" He shouted as he barreled towards the machine.  
  
"GOKU!" Piccolo shouted in alarm seeing the man he had come to view as his friend hurtling toward the probe.  
  
Goku blocked out Piccolo's warning. His instinct told him that this was the best attack against the probe and his instincts in battle had never failed him. When Goku reached the probe he leaped into the air, tucking his legs into his chest, flipping up over the probe's domed top. When Goku opened up from the tuck he kicked both his legs downward toward the vulnerable top of the machine. When he hit the probe, driving it into the ground he barely felt a shock. As he had hoped, he already had so much energy coursing through his body a little more made little difference. He rose into the air above the felled probe and pulled his hands to the side gathering all the energy he could into them. "KAMEHAMEHA!" he shouted throwing the energy ball at the machine.  
  
Goku struggled to steady himself against the wind created by the explosion and shielded his eyes. When the smoke cleared he looked down to find the probe still lying there only in a deeper crater. At first he thought it was finished and then it began to move. Although it was seriously damaged it still moved.  
  
"No Way!" Goku shouted in disbelief.  
  
"WATCH OUT!" Goku heard Krillan call and he looked up in time see the cylinder begin to topple over toward him.  
  
***  
  
Bulma slowly became aware of the distant sounds of a battle and a fiery pain burning in her right arm. As her senses slowly returned she opened her eyes and found herself in a cave. Suddenly she remembered how she got there and why she ended up in the cave. She slowly propped herself up with her left arm and rolled over. Her whole body seemed to ache with every movement.  
  
"Oh " she thought to herself as she sat up "I wonder how long I was out. I wonder how Vegeta is doing against that mechanical monster?" She looked out toward the entrance to the cave and listened to the sound of laser fire and explosions. "I know he said not to come out until he said it was alright but it won't hurt to peek, just to see how he is."  
  
Using the help of the cave wall and her one good arm she managed to get to her feet. Slowly she made her way toward the mouth of the cave. Upon reaching it she stood off to the side and cautiously looked around the corner. Vegeta stood in the middle of the canyon with his back to her shielding himself from the probe's volley with the fiery aura of his ki. He looked ragged and somewhat charred. His hair seemed to be standing even more on end, if that was possible, but he determinedly stood his ground against his foe. She couldn't help but admire his courage.  
  
His head turned to the left and Bulma turned her head to see what he was looking at. There was a boulder hanging precariously on the edge of one of the surrounding cliffs. Vegeta sent several shots into the cliff just below it and the boulder began to totter. She watched as the large boulder fell down on top of the probe knocking it over and smashing it into one of the canyon walls with a bang. She watched in fascination as the battered machine tried to no avail to dislodge itself.  
  
She turned her attention back to Vegeta when she heard him speak. "And now we finish this!" he yelled. She saw all his muscles tense and watched as his ki grew in intensity. Small debris and rocks began rising from the canyon floor around him.  
  
Suddenly the ground shook with a tremendous force. She braced herself by hanging on to the lip of the cave with both hands although the pain, which shot-up her right arm, was almost intolerable. She winced as the small rocks, dislodged from the ceiling by the shaking, hit her in the head. Despite pain and discomfort she could not take her eyes off of the scene which was unfolding in front of her.  
  
Vegeta's ki was now a fiery red and it was difficult to see the saiyajin in the middle of it as he powered-up. Suddenly he screamed a mighty battle cry and he was enveloped in a golden light so bright she was forced to look away. The ground had stopped shaking and she looked up and caught her breath in astonishment to see a golden-haired figure standing where Vegeta had stood only seconds before.  
  
"Is that still Vegeta?" she wondered. The sound of a massive explosion in the distance arrested her attention for a moment but she couldn't see anything over the canyon wall. She saw movement in the corner of her eye and turned once more to the scene before her.  
  
The figure, still enveloped in a golden glow, shot straight up in the air, hovered over the top of the trapped probe and turned so that it was facing her.  
  
"GALLIC HO!" he shouted with an unmistakable lop-sided grin on his face aiming a concentrated energy beam at the probe.  
  
"It really is Vegeta!" she said out loud in amazement.  
  
She watched as the beam hit the probe and it began to glow first red-hot and then white. With one last cry he intensified the beam and the probe, and the boulder that had trapped it, exploded into a million tiny pieces filling the air with dust and falling shards of metal.  
  
She coughed and ducked back inside of the cave and waited for the cloud to clear. She looked out again to see the golden version of Vegeta descend towards a large crater in the earth, which stood where the probe had been a moment before. The golden haired Vegeta landed on the ground, with his back to her. In an instant the golden transformation melted away leaving the normal Vegeta standing there once again. Her astonishment was replaced with concern as he sunk to his knees breathing heavily.  
  
***  
  
Goku barely had enough time to dodge the cylinder as it fell. The cylinder came down onto the probe crushing it beneath its massive weight. Goku hung in the air above the unbelievable sight with a sense of deep satisfaction.  
  
"NO!" Krillan wailed snapping everyone back into reality.  
  
With a sick feeling in his heart Goku rushed to his son who's Ki was almost gone.  
  
Krillan looked up at Goku with tears in his eyes "I'm sorry I'm loosing him. He's just not fighting back and I'm not strong enough to do it on my own."  
  
Goku placed one hand on his son's chest and one on his head. His aura began to glow and envelope father and son as Goku reached out for Gohan's ki with every bit of strength he had. When he at last found it he latched on to it.  
  
"Gohan" he said silently reaching for his boy's mind with his own "Come on son you have to fight." The saiyajin warrior felt the small boy's ki begin to slip away. "Gohan" Goku shouted telepathically "you can't give up. I'm here and I won't let you go but you have to let me pull you back. You have to fight son. I need you."  
  
As the two helpless spectators looked on Goku's face became contorted with the desperate struggle as he tried to save his boy's life.  
  
"I wish there was something we could do" Krillan said in almost a whisper.  
  
"Maybe there is," said Piccolo kneeling down beside his pupil "we can give him the energy of our kis as well." With that he placed his hand on Gohan's chest as well.  
  
Krillan smiled and placed his hand on his young friend and added his strength. The glow around the boy increased in intensity with the added Ki of his friends.  
  
Goku suddenly became aware of the ki's of his two friends pouring into his son's unconscious body. "You see Gohan" Goku pleaded "We all need you and we won't let you go without a fight. Fight with us Gohan." At last he felt the tug of Gohan's ki as it reached out for the others.  
  
"That's it son" Goku encouraged him "grab hold of us and we'll bring you back!" He felt the connection of the converging ki's at last and Gohan's began growing in intensity until it stabilized.  
  
Goku and his two friends opened their eyes and looked at Gohan as he began to stir. His eyes slowly fluttered open and he looked up at the three warriors in confusion. "Daddy? Krillan? Mr. Piccolo? What happened?"  
  
"We almost lost you kiddo," Krillan said removing his hand "but your dad brought you back."  
  
"I couldn't of done it without your help or Piccolo's, Krillan" he said returning his son's weak smile with his own happy grin.  
  
BANG! An explosion rocked the ground. Goku instinctively bent over his son and raised his aura like a protective shield around them both. Krillan was thrown a ways before he found the strength to raise his aura to protect himself. Piccolo whose reaction was the quickest calmly surveyed the surrounding chaos amid his own protective aura.  
  
When it ended they all turned to look behind themselves and found that the cylindrical craft and the probe it had pinned to the ground were no more.  
  
"It must have had a self destruct" Piccolo commented absently.  
  
Goku steadied Gohan as he sat up and Krillan weakly struggled to his feet. Just then the hair on Goku's neck stood on end as he suddenly felt an immense surge of power. The others felt it too and looked into the direction of the northeast in time to see a tremendous mushroom cloud rise into the air. Almost as quickly as the cloud vanished the power vanished as well.  
  
"What or who was that?" Krillan asked.  
  
"I don't know" Piccolo said, "the Ki was massive but it wasn't around long enough for me to get the sense of it."  
  
Goku was surprised that the others didn't seem to know the source of the power. It was all to clear to him that the source was Vegeta. "I've never felt anything like it" he thought to himself " I wonder if I should tell the others?" He looked down at his son who had an even more confused look on his face.  
  
"Dad" Gohan said, "It was almost like when you fought Freeza and you…"  
  
"Maybe it is Gohan" Goku interrupted before his son could finish "but what's important right now is getting you and Krillan to the hospital and to see if Bulma and Vegeta need any help." The realization of what his son was saying had dawned on him and he thought it best not to reveal his suspicions. After all the idea that kind of power in Vegeta's hands made him nervous even though his instincts told him that he could now trust the Saiyajin Prince. He didn't want the others to worry about something that he wasn't even certain of himself.  
  
"I think I can manage to fly us both to the hospital" Krillan said to his saiyajin friend "you and Piccolo can go help Bulma."  
  
"I think I can handle it myself guys" Goku said "besides I think you and Gohan both need help more than Bulma and Vegeta do. I don't sense a battle going on right now." Goku stood up. "Piccolo, would you mind taking them?"  
  
"No problem" the Namek said with a grin picking up Gohan under one arm and a protesting Krillan under the other. "Stop fussing" Piccolo snapped at the monk "you and I both know you're in no shape to fly after you gave your last bit of energy to Gohan."  
  
Goku watched as Piccolo took off with a passenger under each arm and then he took off towards the Northeast.  
  
***  
  
Vegeta breathed in deeply to gather himself. The power was so massive and the rage so great that it was difficult to control and yet he had managed to maintain perfect control for long enough to destroy the probe and it pleased him. He still felt the exhilaration that the fighting had brought him and savored the pain from his injuries. It had been a good battle against a difficult opponent. Suddenly he felt a light touch on his shoulder and he turned to see Bulma standing behind him.  
  
"Are you alright?" she asked.  
  
"I thought I told you to stay in there until I told you to come out woman" he snapped at her rising to his feet. He hated being seen in a moment of weakness by anyone and the fact that it was Bulma who had seen him angered him still more for some reason.  
  
"Well excuse me vegetable head" Bulma replied tersely "but after I saw you nearly collapse after blowing up the probe I was a little concerned about you. I have no idea what possessed me to care."  
  
Vegeta's mind was torn for the moment between the surprises that Bulma would care that he might be hurt and that she had seen him destroy the probe. The later thought won out. "How much did you see?" He questioned.  
  
"Why do you care?" Bulma snapped back.  
  
"That is none of your business" he began feeling the anger rise. "Now tell me what you saw!"  
  
"If it's none of my business why you want to know then what I saw is none of your business!" she countered.  
  
"Listen woman..." he said grabbing her arm and was cut short by her cry of agony. He let go and she collapsed to the ground in tears clutching her arm. He was pained and confused. He hadn't grabbed her that hard and yet the fact he had terribly hurt her was perfectly clear.  
  
"I didn't mean to hurt you," he said kneeling down beside her "I didn't think I grabbed you that hard."  
  
It was difficult for Bulma to think straight or even talk over the pain but she could see he really meant what he said by looking into his eyes. "You didn't" she assured him "I think my arm's broken. I'm not really sure how it happened."  
  
"We must get it looked after," he said gently helping her up being careful to avoid the injured arm. He was suddenly aware of feeling the need to protect her once again. The same feeling that had driven him to risk his life in her behalf when he saw her cowering before the probe not long before. He didn't understand why this stupid earth woman made him feel that way but he couldn't bring himself to step away from her either.  
  
Bulma began to feel guilty about egging him into an argument. After all, even though Vegeta had been a bit short with her he had just saved her life. "I saw you change if that's what you wanted to know," she said quietly.  
  
Vegeta looked at her face and saw her downcast eyes and realized the disclosure had been her way of apologizing. For what he wasn't exactly sure but, he did think he owed her an explanation because he had hurt her arm. "Don't tell anyone," he said, "I don't want anyone to know I can go Super Saiyajin."  
  
"Super Saiyajin" she thought to herself looking up and into his face once again "that's what everyone said Goku became to defeat Freeza. If he's that powerful why wouldn't he want anyone to know?" Bulma was about to ask him why when she thought better of it. He had a right to keep secret whatever he chose to. She had seen a different side of him that day. A side that seemed to care about her enough to risk exposing a secret he wanted to hide from everyone to save her life.  
  
At first he was a bit disturbed by her searching gaze as she looked into his eyes but then she smiled at him and her beauty struck him once again. She was a bit ragged and dishelmed from her ordeal but she was beautiful nonetheless.  
  
Bulma was pleased as he returned her smile with his cock-eyed smirk but then something in the way he was looking back at her made her blush and turn away. "I promise I won't say anything," she said softly breaking the silence that had fallen between them.  
  
Vegeta was aware of a strange feeling of satisfaction when he saw her cheeks color and turn away and a vague memory stirred in the back of his mind. It was that Yamcha said something about Bulma finding him attractive and that pleased him even more. Vegeta's saiyajin senses became acutely aware of her smell and how close they were standing. He began to feel a strange desire to be even closer to her that he could not explain. If he still had a tail it would have been swinging back a forth.  
  
Bulma was afraid to look at him again. She was keenly aware that he was still looking at her in the same way and she realized this wasn't the first time he had looked at her that way. She then vaguely remembered Yamcha saying that Vegeta was always "checking her out". "No that can't be right" she thought, "He thinks I'm ugly. He's always telling me that he does. It must be my imagination." Bolstered with this new thought she looked up again prepared to ask him to take her to the hospital but she suddenly found herself at a loss for words when she was met with the same look in his coal-black eyes. She was forced to admit that it definitely was not her imagination and she kind of liked the idea that he thought she was pretty.  
  
When she looked up again Vegeta couldn't help but gaze deeply into her beautiful blue eyes. He was overwhelmed with a sudden impulse, leaned forward and kissed her. At first Bulma stiffened in surprise but soon she found herself leaning into the kiss as well and she couldn't believe how wonderful it made her feel.  
  
All at once the reality of the emotions he was feeling hit Vegeta and he pulled away from her and looked down at the ground. "What in the hell did I think I was doing?" he thought to himself in disgust. "How could I allow myself to be weak enough to give into such a sickenly sentimental emotion? How could this pathetic human make me feel that way? I am Prince of the Saiyajin. I need no one and want nothing but to fulfill my destiny as the most powerful being in the universe. This was a mistake that cannot and will not ever be repeated."  
  
Bulma watched Vegeta in confusion as he stared down at the ground and his muscles slowly tensed. When he looked up at her his expression was cold and she couldn't help but feel he was angry with her. She was trying to understand what had just happened but it had all transpired so quickly that it made her head spin. Try as she might she wasn't sure what she should think or feel.  
  
Vegeta felt the tug of a familiar ki approaching. "Kakorot is coming," he said looking off into the distance "he will take care of you." With that he took two steps to the side and began to rise into the sky. Bulma was at a loss for words as she watched him go.  
  
When Goku arrived he saw Bulma staring into the sky at a figure that's retreating ki told him was the Saiyajin Prince. He set down next to his friend unnoticed. "Hey Bulma" he said startling her "are you okay?"  
  
"Goku I..." Bulma began not sure of what to say, "I guess I'm alright. I've been better."  
  
Goku smiled warmly at her. He could see something had upset her but he had never been very good at saying the right thing to people without putting his foot in his mouth so he decided not to pursue the subject.  
  
"I could sense a battle going on over here" he said, "You didn't happen to have a run in with a machine of some sort?"  
  
"Yes" she said with a melancholy tone in her voice "it was a probe of some kind."  
  
"I think we had a run in with one too" said Goku walking off toward the crater "Wow there's hardly anything left of it" he commented looking down into the hole. "Did Vegeta do this?" he asked looking back over his shoulder at Bulma.  
  
Bulma didn't hear him. She was too absorbed in her own thoughts. "He kissed me" she thought, "Vegeta kissed me and I actually liked it. I didn't want it to end, but it did end. It ended with him running away. Why should I care that he ran away? I mean I didn't want him to kiss me. I've never thought about him like that…at least not seriously. I do care about him but not like that…at least I don't think I do. Oh Kami, I can't believe this is happening to me!"  
  
Goku was concerned that Bulma seemed to have drifted away. Since calling her name didn't seem to work he came over and placed his hand on her arm to give it a gentle shake. To his surprise she screamed.  
  
"Do you saiyajin have some kind of built in radar that tells you where it will hurt someone the most to touch them! Didn't you notice I was holding it?" Bulma screamed doubled over in pain. She looked up to see the confused and upset expression on Goku's face and felt ashamed. "I'm sorry Goku" Bulma said feeling the tears pool up in her eyes "I guess I'm not in a very good mood. I haven't had a very good day."  
  
"Maybe I should take you to get your arm looked at" Goku said in concern "it might be broken or something."  
  
"You won't get any arguments from me" Bulma said attempting a small smile.  
  
Goku carefully lifted her up into his arms and they flew to the hospital, the silence only broken by Bulma's quiet tears.  
  
  


	8. Chapter 7

08-24-02  
  
Here's my next batch of reedited chapters. I'm happy to have an audience both new and old for this story.  
  
Chapter 7- Mysterious Objects  
  
Bulma tapped the end of her pen on the desk. No matter how hard she tried the Vice President of the Capsule Corporation (also acting President in her father's absence) just couldn't keep her mind on work. Too much had happened the day before and she keep replaying everything over and over in her mind. Even when she tried not to think about it her sore body and unusable arm served as a constant reminder of it.  
  
She also was worried about Gohan, who she left in the hospital after the cast was put on her arm. Chi Chi was so upset that she had considered staying with her when Goku left for Korin's to get some Sensu beans for Gohan and Krillan. Chi Chi wouldn't hear of it because Bulma was it was obviously stressed and upset. Because of this she insisted that her husband take Bulma home.  
  
Bulma was also sick because she realized she had lost her toolbox with all of her irreplaceable instruments in it. The city had already sent in a clean-up crew and investigation team to look over the site of the mysterious explosions. They had all probably been either confiscated by the authorities as evidence or junked with the rest of the debris. They obviously had found something with the Capsule Corporation's Logo on it because they called her. She told the secretary to tell them she wasn't there and that she would call them back. That was three hours ago and she still hadn't called them because she still had no idea what to tell them yet.  
  
Her mother and father were on their way back home. She called to tell them about the incident so they wouldn't see it on the news and worry. They had insisted on her relating everything and she was up half-the-night explaining it all to them in great detail. Well, she had left a few things out mainly things about Vegeta.  
  
"Vegeta!" Bulma cursed to herself, "Why do you have to be such a contradiction! I can't decide whether I want to kiss you or kill you!" Bulma put her head in her hands and rubbed her temples. Up until yesterday Vegeta was nothing more to her than an arrogant, self-serving bastard that happened to have a body that could stop traffic. She could temper the fact that she found him physically attractive with the fact he she couldn't stand his personality. Now he was also the man, er saiyajin, that had risked his life to save her own. This new side of him she saw intrigued her. Then there was the further complication of the kiss. She couldn't deny the chemistry she felt at that moment. She'd even had a dream about him last night and what a dream it was. "Oh Kami!" she said out load "Why can't I be attracted to a nice normal man for once in my life?"  
  
Suddenly her intercom buzzed. Bulma hit the button with a sigh. "Yes Ms. Shortcake what is it?" she said in a monotone.  
  
"Ms Briefs" her secretary began "I know you said that you didn't want to be disturbed but there are some people here that insisted I buzz you. They said their names were Goku and Chi Chi."  
  
"Don't forget me" Bulma heard a young boy's voice in the background. Bulma brightened when she recognized the voice.  
  
"Oh" said Ms. Shortcake "and their son Gohan."  
  
"Show them in" Bulma said with a smile. She rose from the desk just in time to see the door open and Gohan peek in. "Hey Kid" she said, "You look pretty good for someone who got fried yesterday!"  
  
"Dad gave me a sensu bean," Gohan said, "so I feel great!"  
  
"Hi Bulma" Chi Chi said cheerfully pulling Goku in by the arm. Chi Chi nudged her husband who looked a little overwhelmed.  
  
"Hi Bulma," Goku said with an awkward smile. "I never knew that this place was so big." Goku had wanted to see Bulma when she got home but Chi Chi had insisted they go to see her immediately. There was something that scared him about anything that had to do with businesses.  
  
"Hi guys" Bulma said with a smile and a laugh. Just then she noticed a very familiar looking box under Goku's other arm. "What is that?" she asked.  
  
"Oh," said Goku with his carefree laugh "it's your toolbox. I thought you might like it back."  
  
"Oh Goku," Bulma began with delight "I'd hug you if I had both arms. I can't believe you went back for it!" Bulma was amazed. She hadn't said anything about it and Goku wasn't the type to think about tools and electronic gizmos. Yet she knew he had had to of made a special trip just to get them for her to cheer her up.  
  
Goku laughed uncomfortably and rubbed the back of his head. The reason he had gone back was because he had remembered that Bulma usually kept the Dragon Radar in her toolbox. He had been really afraid that it had been destroyed in the battle and he wouldn't be able to keep his word to Trunks. "We also have something else for you" Gohan said. He smiled at his dad who looked blankly at him for a moment.  
  
"Oh yeah!" Goku said handing the toolbox to his son and reaching into a sack on his belt "We thought you deserved a Sensu bean after everything you went through." The saiyajin walked toward his friend and put it in her hand. "Eat it and it will heal your arm and any other injuries you have."  
  
"They always do wonders for my boys" Chi Chi said with a grin.  
  
"So these are the fabled sensu beans" Bulma said turning it over in her fingers "it doesn't look like much but here goes." She put the bean in her mouth and chewed it thoroughly before swallowing it. She suddenly felt a surge of energy course through every muscle in her body. When it left all her pain was gone along with it and she felt reenergized. "Wow this is great!" she said with a laugh as she jumped up and down "now I can get this dumb thing off my arm! Thanks guys!"  
  
"I thought we could all go to lunch," Chi Chi said.  
  
"Oh that sounds great!" Bulma said, "I really need a break. In fact I think I deserve to take the rest of the day off."  
  
"Oh good" Chi Chi said, "maybe we could do some shopping afterwards. I'm sure Goku won't mind watching Gohan for the afternoon."  
  
"I'm sorry Chi Chi" Goku said apologetically with a downcast look "but I can't watch him. I promised I'd meet someone at Kami's Lookout this afternoon."  
  
"Oh Goku" said Chi Chi obviously disappointed her plans for the afternoon were being spoiled.  
  
"Sorry Chi Chi" Goku said solemnly "but a promise is a promise."  
  
"Can't I go with you Dad?" Gohan asked hopefully.  
  
"I'm sorry Gohan" Goku apologized "but I'm afraid that you can't."  
  
Gohan looked crestfallen but he nodded his understanding. "Great now I have to spend the whole afternoon being dragged from store to store by Mom and Bulma," he thought to himself.  
  
Everyone fell silent.  
  
"Well, now that that's settled" Bulma ventured taking Chi Chi's arm "Let's get going!"  
  
"Wait a minute Bulma" Goku said uncomfortably "I do have a favor to ask. You wouldn't mind lending me the Dragon Radar, would you?"  
  
"The Dragon Radar?" Bulma questioned in surprise. "I don't mind you taking it but I'm not sure why you need it. What do you want to wish for?"  
  
"Oh" Goku said, "It's not for me. You see" he stumbled trying to pick his brain for what Trunks had told him. "The guy I'm meeting is collecting them for Kami. They're putting them in the Lookout in case they're needed."  
  
"In case they're needed?" Bulma asked worriedly "Something's going to happen isn't it?"  
  
"Oh no, it's not anything like that. Don't worry Bulma" Goku said with a reassuring smile. "I'm sorry but I can't tell you anymore."  
  
"Okay" Bulma said. Ever since Goku had had a visit from that guy in the future Bulma had the uncomfortable feeling that he knew more than he was letting on. She also had the feeling that what he knew had something to do with her. He was the only who didn't seem surprised that Vegeta had saved her life and she couldn't help but wonder if Goku knew that it was going to happen in advance. "Gohan can you put the box down and open it for me?"  
  
"Sure" Gohan answered setting it down.  
  
Bulma knelt down in front of it as the half-saiyajin boy opened the box and she stared in surprise at the two items on the top of everything else. "What are these?" she questioned picking up one of the objects. It was metallic, had a dome shaped top from which descended three long metallic tentacles all wound up tightly around each other, and fit comfortably in the palm of her hand. The other appeared to be a metallic capsule of some kind and was about the size and shape of a football.  
  
"Those aren't yours?" Goku questioned "I found them in the rubble along with everything else."  
  
"Well, they aren't mine" Bulma said "but I have a pretty good idea about where they came from." After a pregnant pause in which she further examined the objects she spoke again. "I think these came from the probe that you destroyed or maybe even the spacecraft."  
  
"You really think those could have survived the explosion?" Goku asked peering down at the objects with the others who had now gathered around Bulma.  
  
"Sure" she said, " I think they were made to. The question is why" Bulma said looking at the others "and my friends I intend to find out the answer to that question."  
  
***  
  
Goku stepped off Nimbus onto Kami's Lookout. It looked like Trunks was already there because the Time Machine was parked on the Look Out as well.  
  
"Hello" he shouted.  
  
"Hello" Mr. Po Po said sticking his head out from the temple entrance "Come on in Goku."  
  
"Hello Goku" Kami said standing up to greet his guest as he walked in.  
  
Goku's eyes fell on the teenager who turned and merely smiled and nodded to him. "I hope that I didn't keep you waiting too long Trunks but I stopped to have lunch with my family and your Mom."  
  
"I haven't been waiting long" Trunks assured him. "Were you able to get it?"  
  
"Oh" Goku said reaching into his pocket and pulling out the Dragon Radar "Here it is."  
  
The young time traveler reached for it expressing his thanks.  
  
"Are you going to look for the Dragon Balls by yourself?" Goku asked.  
  
"I have to" Trunks explained "I can't get anyone from this time involved in my search because it might damage the future."  
  
Goku smiled at the boy trying to understand his plight. "Just remember that I'm more than happy to help if you need it."  
  
"Thank you," the young man said glancing sideways at Kami "but the most important thing that you can do right now is train for the upcoming battle."  
  
Goku nodded his head to assure the young man that that was his intention as he followed him outside.  
  
"Uh Trunks" Goku asked, "Did you know that we were going to have to fight those probes?"  
  
"Yes" he answered, "My mother often told me the story."  
  
"I don't suppose you know what those things are that I picked up with your Mom's tools are by mistake, do you?"  
  
Trunks smiled at Goku in a way that reminded him very much of Vegeta. "I do but I can't tell you that" he replied.  
  
"Oh," Goku said more than a little disappointed. "I suppose I should have guessed that. I guess you can't tell me if it was the androids that sent them, either." After Trunks shook his head no in answer Goku quickly changed the subject. "Well, good luck on your Dragon Ball hunt."  
  
"And I wish you luck in the challenge that you are about to face" the young man replied over his shoulder as he entered the time machine once again.  
  
"I wonder what he means by that?" thought the saiyajin as he watched the craft rise into the sky. 


	9. Chapter 8

08-24-02 This chapter's b/v and the next still are my favorite scenes I've written to date. Lol. I think I displayed the sexual tension pretty well.  
  
Chapter 8- Destiny  
  
Bulma hummed softly to herself as she read over the readings her research on the mysterious objects had given her. From what she could decipher the large football shaped object was a computerized "brain" designed to run and control machines and store data. Why it was no longer functioning was still a mystery to her.  
  
The small device appeared to be nothing more than a receiver for transmissions. From this fact she deduced that both probes had been controlled from one source. The "brain" was probably part of the main ship and responsible for controlling the movements of both probes during the battle. It sent its instructions to the probes via the receiver. She could see why the "brain" would be important to save after detonation, so the creator's of the probe could still retrieve all the data collected if the opportunity presented itself, but why the receiver was saved was beyond her grasp at the moment.  
  
Her current project was to restart the "brain's" functions and study it's circuitry in more depth. She had just discovered that she could open the shell with a high powered laser and was nosing around it's inner workings looking for what might be the switch to turn it on.  
  
"Bulma honey" she heard her mother's voice from behind call her. She turned her attention to her mother with a bit of annoyance.  
  
"Don't look at me like that young lady!" her mother scolded. "You told me to come and get you at 5:00 so you had enough time to get ready for your date."  
  
"Oh" Bulma exclaimed looking at her watch "Thanks mom." She began tiding up.  
  
"Who is this guy anyway?" her mother asked.  
  
"He's a sales representative that's just started working full time in the marketing division"  
  
Bulma answered. "His name is Yoshi Takihasi. He's been asking me out ever since it became common knowledge that Yamcha and I had broken up and I thought I'd give him a chance."  
  
"Oh" Mrs. Briefs answered "I remember meeting him not too long ago. No offense Bulma but I didn't think he was your type."  
  
Having finished straightening things up she regarded her mother. "Oh really mom" Bulma said "and just what is my type?"  
  
"The manly, muscle bound and handsome type" her mother teased "particularly those that engage in the martial arts."  
  
"Well," Bulma answered smiling at her mother's truthful observation "maybe I'm finally growing up. My taste hasn't been that good in the past so I guess it's maturing now."  
  
"Oh I don't think it's changed that much" Mrs. Briefs said. "Not the way you've been acting around a certain boarder of ours."  
  
"Mother!" she exclaimed, "You have to be joking. You know, as well as I do, that I can't stand Vegeta. All that we ever do is fight."  
  
"Oh come now" her mother teased "a mother notices things sweetheart. Like how you're blushing right now."  
  
Bulma sighed. She should of known her mother would notice something. Since that day in the canyon, when Vegeta had kissed her, her attraction to him had grown and she had been fighting it every step of the way. "Okay" Bulma admitted, "You got me mom. I think he's attractive but that doesn't mean anything. It just goes to further prove I have lousy taste in men. I go from admiring a former out-law turned lady killer to a former assassin who has yet to turn-over a new leaf."  
  
"If you like him why don't you go for it?" her mother encouraged happily.  
  
"Mother have you gone crazy?" Bulma asked in disbelief.  
  
"Besides I think he likes you too" Mrs. Briefs continued ignoring what her daughter had said "and he's really cute!"  
  
"I don't believe you mother!" Bulma said. "This is Vegeta we're talking about. He's a cold-blooded killer!"  
  
"Seriously dear you're so much alike it's as if you were made for each other." Mrs. Brief's persisted. "It's like its destiny or something!"  
  
"I can't believe you can say that!" Bulma exclaimed defensively. "Vegeta and I have absolutely nothing in common."  
  
"Sure you do" her mother replied, "You're both stubborn, proud and have the worst tempers."  
  
"I DO NOT HAVE A TEMPER!" Bulma shouted.  
  
"Whatever you say dear," her mother said with a giggle at her daughter's clear demonstration that she indeed had a temper.  
  
Bulma grew embarrassed, realizing that she had indeed just lost her temper and stalked angrily out of the room. "I'm going to get ready for my date" she declared.  
  
***  
  
Mirai Trunks gasped for air as he broke the surface of the water. He kicked furiously with both feet to propel himself towards the shore without his arms, which were occupied by holding onto the Dragon Ball. When he reached the shallow part of the lakebed he walked the rest of the way to the dry land. After carefully setting down the three-star Dragon Ball he lay down, turned onto his back and rested. He closed his eyes and took in large regular breaths as he enjoyed feeling the sun's warmth against his skin. It had taken him 4 hours to locate the Dragon Ball on the lake bottom and retrieve it. He had had to brave the freezing water in nothing but his boxer shorts and pushed his lungs endurance ten-fold in diving for the ball.  
  
This ball would join the two others now resting in his time machine. These three balls would then shortly join the other two at Kami's Lookout. In a few weeks time he had managed to gather all but two of the Dragon Balls. He smiled to himself as he thought about all that he had accomplished. "Only two more and it will be within my power to erase my future," he thought.  
  
His satisfaction was short-lived as he recalled his mother's words to him when he relayed the situation and his plan to her before he went on his Dragon Ball Hunt:  
  
"Mother" he had pleaded, "I don't understand why you are upset about this. It's really not that different from what we originally hoped to do."  
  
"But Trunks" Mirai Bulma had said, "It is different. The way we originally planned it our future never would never have existed because the circumstances never would have arisen to make us, and our world, what they are. This way it's like committing suicide. We would be ending our lives because don't want to face the future in which we live. Maybe we should just forget about it and make the best out of our situation. We've been running from it and hiding from it. I thought we could change things so we never had to suffer but I guess I forgot how foolish it was to play god."  
  
"Mom" Trunks assured her "I can't just give up. I need to know that we accomplished all that we set out to do. When the time comes to make that decision I promise to make that an option."  
  
"Thank you Trunks" Mirai Bulma had said, "I know that you'll keep your word. Remember what Kiao-sama told you. The destiny of an entire universe lies in your hands. If you decide to make that wish we will cease to exist."  
  
Trunks sighed as he felt the weight of the world on his young shoulders. "Destiny" he thought, "I wonder how much of it is in our power to control and how much of it is set in stone?" He opened his eyes and looked at the orange orb thoughtfully. "Just because it's in someone's power to change destiny doesn't always mean that they should. I have no idea what path to take when I'm ready to make the wish. Will the decision that I make be the right decision?"  
  
He sat up now completely dry and dressed in his clothes. He was hungry and tired and decided to drop these three Dragon Balls at Kami's and renew his hunt for the remaining two Dragon Balls on the following day. He looked up in the sky and wondered what everyone in this past and his future were doing with their respective struggles.  
  
***  
  
Vegeta rummaged through the refrigerator. He had been training in the gravity room non-stop all afternoon and was starving. He slapped together a sandwich piled high with everything he could fit onto it and began to devour it when he heard the doorbell.  
  
"Forget it. Why should I answer it?" he thought taking another bite from the sandwich. "I'll only answer it when I'm forced to by the woman or her stupid blonde mother."  
  
He heard Mrs. Briefs high-pitched chatter and saw her pass by the entrance to the kitchen with some man in a suit with a bunch of flowers. He was curious but even his superior saiyajin hearing couldn't make out every word of Mrs. Brief's chatter so he merely "humphed" and continued eating choosing to ignore it.  
  
"BULMA YOUR DATE'S HERE!" he suddenly heard Bulma's mother scream down the hall.  
  
"Date?" he thought, "Isn't that what that weakling Yamcha used to take the woman out on? A human courtship rite of some kind?" He took another bite of his sandwich and found his curiosity steadily growing along with another unfamiliar feeling the more he thought about it.  
  
"Damn it," he thought, "I'll never have peace unless I get a look at the baka." Vegeta, leaving the remains of his sandwich on the table, stealthily crept into the doorway of the room in which he knew the Briefs family usually received guests. When he reached the doorway he stood there and observed the strange man within. He had his back to Vegeta and appeared to be looking at the family pictures on the far wall oblivious to the fact he was being watched. He started when he finally turned around and saw Vegeta.  
  
"He's as skinny as a stick with absolutely no muscle tone at all" Vegeta thought in contempt sneering at the weak human who looked like he was about to faint. "I've never sensed a more pathetic Ki than this baka's. He has a handsome enough face but all the blood has drained out of it. He's scared stupid proving that he's a coward. I can't believe that this is courting Bulma. A weakling like him doesn't deserve a fiery and spirited woman like her."  
  
Since the baka still did nothing and just stood staring dumbstruck Vegeta decided to speak. "Who the hell are you?" Vegeta asked menacingly stepping into the room.  
  
The man's only reply was to turn even paler.  
  
"I asked you who the hell you are!" Vegeta barked at the man who jumped.  
  
The whimp began to stutter a reply when something behind the Saiyaijin Prince appeared to catch his eye. The man caught his breath and the color rushed back into his cheeks.  
  
"Leave him alone Vegeta" he heard Bulma's voice say from behind.  
  
Vegeta wheeled around to sharply reply but the sight that met his eyes made him stop cold in his tracks. Bulma was clad in a tight, blue mini-dress that clung to every curve of her figure. It's plunging neckline gave a tantalizing peek of her cleavage and the color set off her already gorgeous blue eyes so that they stood out even more. Vegeta found himself awestruck with her beauty and his heart began to race. "She's breath taking," Vegeta thought letting his eyes wander over her frame "That dress leaves nothing to the imagination. Well maybe there are few things I could think of."  
  
Bulma suddenly found herself face to face with a bare-chested Vegeta. Naturally when she came up from behind him she had noticed he was only clad in a pair of black spandex workout shorts but she had been so preoccupied with rescuing her hapless date at the time that only now did she get the full impact of his undeniably awesome physique. "Kami he's beautiful," she thought unconsciously running her eyes up and down over his well-defined muscular build. She had seen him like that only a few times before from a distance and she couldn't help but notice how much better the view was up close. It was then that she noticed that he appeared to be undressing her with his eyes. She pulled her eyes away from Vegeta and looked at the floor trying to collect her composure but she could still feel his eyes on her and it made her nervous.  
  
"This is not fair" she thought to herself "I won't let him ruin this for me. I have to get over this school-girl crush and move on with my life."  
  
Vegeta looked at Bulma's downcast face and smirked cockily with the knowledge that she had been admiring his body as he had been admiring hers. She then, without a second glance in his direction, turned and began to walk toward the baka weakling with an effortless, swinging gait. Vegeta frowned when he saw the man's face light up as Bulma approached him with a sexy half-smile on her full lips.  
  
"Hi Yoshi" Bulma said as she approached the man. "Are those for me?" she asked pointing to the flowers. Yoshi nodded vigorously and handed the bouquet to Bulma. "Thank you!" Bulma said before she inhaled their aroma.  
  
"Look at that yaro drool over her" Vegeta thought watching the scene unfold before him. "Why does the woman look so pleased with the way he's ogling her? She can't want to attract this baka's attention, can she?" Vegeta looked on in disbelief as Bulma leaned over and kissed the weakling on the cheek. "What the hell did she do that for?" Vegeta thought as he felt his blood begin to boil and feel a powerful surge of that strange new emotion he'd only felt moments ago. The only thing he could think about was ousting this pathetic interloper out on his rear. He began to advance with every intention of acting on his impulse until Bulma caught his eye and gave him a steely glare.  
  
"What a gentleman" Bulma said to Yohsi and, with a weary glance in Vegeta's direction to make sure he wasn't advancing on them once again, she then added, "unlike some people I know."  
  
"You're going out on a date with this" Vegeta fumed "dressed like that!"  
  
"So what if I am?" Bulma said calmly with yet another glare at the Prince.  
  
"He's even more pathetic than the last baka you called your boyfriend" Vegeta snapped.  
  
"That just goes to show what you know about women" Bulma retorted. "Just because he's not a muscle bound moron like you doesn't mean he's any less of a man." She then turned to Yoshi, who was looking slightly bewildered, with another smile "I'll just go and put these in water and then we can go."  
  
When she exited Vegeta turned and evilly grinned at Yoshi making him swallow nervously. At first the Saiyajin Prince thought about throwing him out as he had wanted to before but he realized that this pitiful yaro just might come back again with a little encouragement from Bulma. He then considered blasting him but then thought of something even better.  
  
"She'll eat you alive" Vegeta said darkly making Yoshi's blood turn cold.  
  
"Wh-What do you mean?" Yoshi squeaked.  
  
"She's too much for a whimp like you" Vegeta said crossing his arms over his chest. "Just wait until she looses her temper."  
  
"Temper?" Yoshi parroted questioningly.  
  
"Don't worry" Vegeta said with a smirk "just don't say anything to upset her and you'll be fine."  
  
"It won't work Vegeta" he heard Bulma say as she reentered the room with the flowers in a vase and set them on the coffee table. "You can't scare him away."  
  
"I was only giving him a little friendly advice," Vegeta said with a veil of innocence.  
  
"And what might that be?" she asked planting her hands on her hips.  
  
"To stay on your good side" Vegeta said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Meaning what exactly?" she pressed feeling her anger begin to rise.  
  
"Meaning to stay away from your temper" Vegeta said with a smirk.  
  
"I DON'T HAVE A TEMPER!" Bulma shouted at him.  
  
"Like hell you don't" Vegeta retorted.  
  
"Listen you reject from a freak show" Bulma shouted angrily "just because you bring out the worst in me doesn't mean everyone else will. I could never get angry with someone as mild-tempered as Yoshi."  
  
"You're always yelling at that moron Kakarrot and he's as mild-tempered as they come" Vegeta answered smugly provoking her further.  
  
"Get out of here or else" Bulma screamed in rage and frustration at the still composed fighter.  
  
"Or else what?" he asked.  
  
"Or else I'll find something to hit you with that will crack open that thick skull of yours!" Bulma shouted.  
  
Vegeta looked over at Yoshi who was pale once more and smiled. "Have it your way" Vegeta said with a pleased laugh as he exited.  
  
"Sorry about Vegeta" Bulma said apologetically to Yohsi as she watched the Prince retreat. When she turned to look at him she was shocked to see him look at her with fear. "Yoshi" Bulma said soothingly "what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"  
  
"I'm-I'm sorry Bulma" Yoshi stammered "but I don't think that this will work." He turned tail and ran for the front door.  
  
For a moment Bulma stood there in shock and then she felt her anger skyrocket. She screamed at the top of her lungs in rage and frustration and spouted a string of profanity that would have shocked her parents if they could of heard it from where they were.  
  
"Bulma" her mother said entering "I just saw Yoshi run by me as if his life depended on it and heard you scream! What happened?"  
  
"Vegeta's what happened!" Bulma raged. "And this time he's gone too far! I won't let him get away with this!"  
  
"Getting rid of the competition eh?" her mother giggled delightedly. "I told you he liked you!"  
  
"WHY DON'T YOU JUST SHUT UP!" Bulma shouted at her shocked mother and stormed out of the room.  
  
"My, my" said Mrs. Briefs staring after her daughter as she disappeared down the hall "he really touched off a nerve this time."  
  
***  
  
When Mirai Trunks entered the time machine he heard the distinct crackle of the radio.  
  
"Trunks," he heard his mother's voice plead in a whisper "Trunks! Damn you pick up!"  
  
He rushed over to the radio and fumbled with the control in his haste before he finally turned it on.  
  
"Mom I'm here" Trunks said, "What's wrong?"  
  
"Trunks!" he heard his mother say with relief in her voice "Are you still in the past?"  
  
"Yes. Why?" the teenager responded.  
  
"Trunks" Mirai Bulma explained in continued whisper "they found us hiding in the Capsule Corporation building."  
  
"What!" he exclaimed in worry "are you okay? Do you need me to come?"  
  
"No you don't need to come" she reassured "I'm hiding in the secret underground chamber right now. I'm perfectly safe. I just wanted to contact you before I moved everything."  
  
"What are you talking about?" he said with worry as he heard the determination in his mother's voice.  
  
"Capsule Corporation isn't safe to operate out of or live in anymore now that the androids have found it" Bulma began. "I managed to snag the communications equipment as I ran but there are still some things I need to get. When I'm sure they're gone I'm going up, grabbing them and finding another place to set up shop."  
  
"I'll come right now and help you," the young man said strapping himself into the seat.  
  
"No you can't" his mother answered "Until I set-up a new camp you're not to attempt to come back. Now that the androids have reason to watch Capsule Corporation they might notice you if you return. I need to find a safe place and give you the coordinates so that you can land there."  
  
"I know a deserted field near Capsule Corp" Trunks persisted "I can land the time machine there and sneak in."  
  
"Trunks," Mirai Bulma said with the strength of maternal authority in her voice "You know as well as I do that you can't risk showing up in the open. If one of the androids saw you and they got a hold of the time machine who knows what they'd do."  
  
Trunks sighed in frustration. "Mom" Trunks said, "Just be careful. I'm really worried about you there all by yourself."  
  
"Don't worry" his mother reassured him "I'll be just fine." After a moment of silence she spoke again. "I'm turning off the communications now. I'll contact you again in 48 hours with a progress report. Until then we won't be able to talk."  
  
"Okay" Trunks said looking at his watch and marking the time "I'll be here to receive your call." Trunks heard his mother giggle and couldn't figure out what would make his mother laugh in the middle of such a serious situation. "What's so funny?" he asked.  
  
"It's just" Mirai Bulma began "We sound like a couple of spies in the movies I used to watch. I'm sorry I can't explain it better than that. You can't really understand unless you've seen one."  
  
"Oh" Trunks answered. He hadn't but seen a couple movies in his life and he was very young at the time. There was no time or resources to spend on entertainment in his future. There was so much he had missed growing up.  
  
"Well," Mirai Bulma said "I'll talk to you soon. Keep safe."  
  
"I will" Trunks said "You too."  
  
"That's a promise," his mother said. "Bye for now."  
  
"Mom" Trunks ventured quickly before he heard the radio go dead. "I love you," he whispered although he now knew she couldn't hear him.  
  
***  
  
"Vegeta!" Bulma yelled outside of the gravity room's door pounding on it with all her might. "Come out right now! There's no use ignoring me I know you're in there!"  
  
"Woman how many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone when I'm training?" Vegeta's irritated reply came from within.  
  
"Open this door NOW!" Bulma shouted.  
  
"Go to hell" was the Prince's reply.  
  
"For the last time" Bulma ranted "open this door now or I swear I'll make you regret it!"  
  
"I seriously doubt that" Vegeta said amid laughter.  
  
"I'm serious you baka!" Bulma said "I can tap into the gravity room's controls from out here and I can make it very uncomfortable for you in there!"  
  
"I don't give a damn!" Vegeta yelled in reply.  
  
"You will" Bulma began cagily " when you suddenly find yourself slamming into the ceiling due to a sudden loss of gravity and then find yourself plummeting toward the ground in gravity that makes you weigh approximately one ton. The force of an impact of that nature just might even crack a few of your superior saiyajin bones."  
  
After a moment of silence the prince replied, "You wouldn't dare!"  
  
"Sure I would" Bulma said evilly "and I'd enjoy it too." After another moment a perturbed Vegeta opened the door to the gravity room and leaned against the frame regarding her with what appeared to be a mixture of anger and amusement.  
  
"Why the hell did you scare my date off like that?" Bulma questioned angrily.  
  
"I thought it was you who scared him off with your temper" Vegeta replied with an imperious smirk.  
  
"I wouldn't of lost my temper if you hadn't prodded me!" Bulma shouted back. "Just because you are lonely doesn't mean I have to live in isolation too so your ego isn't damaged."  
  
"I'm not the one who's so desperate that they're willing to settle for a pathetic weakling like the baka that just left here!" Vegeta snapped back.  
  
"At least I'm not so self-absorbed I'll give people half-a-chance" was Bulma's acrid response. "You'll see, Vegeta, I'll be married and have five kids and you'll still be alone with nothing but your pride."  
  
"I could have any woman I wanted if I was interested in your weak and pathetic race!" Vegeta shouted back.  
  
"Oh really," Bulma said "I don't see flocks of women throwing themselves at your feet!"  
  
Vegeta smiled condescendingly at Bulma. "What about that little group that watches me when I warm-up on the front lawn every morning from the third floor window. I'm sure one of them would jump at the chance. If memory serves me correctly you've been a part of that little group once or twice yourself."  
  
Vegeta looked pleased when Bulma blushed slightly. Her next remark wasn't half as feisty.  
  
"So maybe you're a little attractive" Bulma said "but a woman would drop you like a hot potato when she realized you are a self-serving, arrogant baka."  
  
"Just like your date left when you showed your true colors?" Vegeta smugly replied.  
  
Bulma stumbled for a reply but was perturbed to find she had no reply. "I hate you!" Bulma screamed in frustration.  
  
"Oh no you don't" the Prince replied confidently "You like me because I'm the only baka with guts enough to stand up to you. Just like I like you because you're the only person on this damn backwater planet without sense enough to be afraid of me. A weakling like that doesn't deserve a fiery, stubborn woman like you."  
  
Bulma stood aghast at what he had said. It amazed her that he admitted to liking her. She realized that was probably the closest thing to a complement that she'd ever receive from the Saiyajin Prince.  
  
"Thank you" Bulma said feeling her anger melt away "That is I think you meant that as a complement."  
  
Vegeta's only reply was a "humph". They stood in silence for a moment regarding each other with puzzlement.  
  
"I guess I didn't really like the baka anyway," Bulma at last ventured.  
  
Vegeta couldn't help but laugh and smirk at Bulma. He was then surprised to see her smile back and look at him with a look that could only be described as begrudging fondness.  
  
"I don't know why I decided to go out with him in the first place" Bulma said, "My mother was right he wasn't my type. The truth is I go for the muscle bound moron type...like you." When she said that Vegeta blushed. He looked so awkward all of the sudden Bulma couldn't help but giggle. "My mom was right about something else too," Bulma said with a mischievous glint in her eyes "you are cute." With that she quickly kissed him on the cheek, gave him a flirty smile that made him grow a shade redder, turned on her heels tossing her aqua hair and walked away with a seductive strut.  
  
The only thing Vegeta could do was watch her as she left. He almost felt like going after her but he didn't. A smile played across his lips. "She really is something else," he thought as he slipped into the gravity room once more. 


	10. Chatper 9

08-26-02 This chapter is being reposted after an error I made in html that made everything one paragraph.  
  
Chapter 9- Trouble In the Future, Pleasure In The Past  
  
The Vice President of the Capsule Corporation scanned the faces of the board members. Bulma had just finished giving the semi-annual report on the corporation's financial status and the status on all current projects. Now that the floor had been opened up to the board members the barrage of stupid pointless questions would come. This annoyed Bulma to no end, especially when her father listened to the idiots at times. Her father may be a brilliant man but he had the business sense of a child. Since she had taken over running the major portion of the corporation's business it was prospering as never before and yet they still questioned her as if she didn't know what she was doing.  
  
"I have a question" one of the board members declared.  
  
"Yes Mr. Shiro" Bulma acknowledged him with insincere congeniality leaning on the conference table. She couldn't help but notice that the other board members appeared to suddenly get restless.  
  
"Ms. Briefs" he said with a smile "It has come to the board's attention that you've been working on some kind of secret project. You have been spending a great deal of time and resources on it, therefore, we demand to know what it is."  
  
Bulma gave an inaudible sigh. She had been using every spare moment she had to study the strange objects Goku had found at the battle site. Everyone at the corporation had assumed she was working on a new top-secret invention. She knew that it had been the topic of much of the office gossip lately so she wasn't entirely surprised by the question. "I take it, Mr. Shiro" Bulma said calmly "you are voicing this concern on behalf of the entire board."  
  
"Yes Ms. Briefs" he said obviously uncomfortable.  
  
"All of the time I have spent on this project" Bulma began with a slight hint of irritation in her voice "has been my own free time. I have spent no corporation resources or finances on it to date so therefore the board has no right to demand to know anything about it."  
  
"Ms. Briefs" Mr. Shiro continued undaunted "can't you give us some idea of the nature of this secret project."  
  
"If I did that Mr. Shiro" Bulma said sweetly "it wouldn't be a secret any more, now would it?"  
  
A little nervous laughter broke out among the board members at this remark and the rest of them merely squirmed in their seats or straightened their ties.  
  
"Now are there any further questions?" Bulma asked. No one ventured a comment as she scanned the room once more. Probably because they sensed the mood that the last question had put the Vice President in. "Well then, I guess that means?" Bulma began only to be cut off by the distraction of the commotion coming from the lobby.  
  
"I'm sorry sir but you can't go in there" Ms Shortcakes wailed. "There's a meeting going on!"  
  
"Like hell I can't" a deep masculine voice replied.  
  
Bulma's eyes widened as she immediately recognized the voice. "Oh Kami!" she thought, "Don't tell me he's come here!"  
  
Suddenly the conference room doors burst open and all eyes in the room turned to see a menacing figure standing in the doorway glaring directly at their Vice President. A few of the female board members immediately recognized the intruder to be the subject of one of their favorite morning shows; watching the guy with the bad hair and the body of a god workout on the front lawn. These women were thrilled to get a closer look at such a hunk. For the rest of the board members however, their impression of the black-haired, muscle-bound man covered in cuts and bruises that stood before them could be summed up by the words on his t-shirt: Bad Man.  
  
"Oh Ms. Briefs!" Ms. Shortcake cried, "Should I call security?"  
  
All eyes turned and looked at Bulma who appeared to still be in somewhat of a state of shock.  
  
"No thank you Ms. Shortcakes" Bulma answered rising from her seat and straightening her skirt and jacket "I can handle this myself." Bulma wasn't sure whether to be more surprised that Vegeta, who looked slightly beat up, had stormed into her workplace or that he was wearing the shirt she had given him when he arrived and the pants she had given to him as a gift for saving her life. "What do you think you're doing here Vegeta?" Bulma addressed the obviously fuming saiyaijin "Can't you see I'm in the middle of an important meeting?"  
  
All eyes shifted to Vegeta.  
  
"I need you to repair the gravity room right now woman" Vegeta said with an air of authority as he crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
"Here we go again," thought Mr. Briefs as he settled in to watch the fireworks he knew were coming.  
  
None of the board members could believe how this man had addressed their Vice President. All eyes turned to see what her reaction would be.  
  
"I'll fix it after work" Bulma said willing herself to be calm. "I can't believe his nerve. He barges in here like he owns the place and then tries to order me around" Bulma thought.  
  
All eyes shifted again to Vegeta.  
  
"I can't wait that long" said the Prince with one eyebrow slightly raised.  
  
The board members turned to the Vice President.  
  
"You're just going to have to wait a few hours" Bulma said her annoyance beginning to creep into her voice. "Maybe this will teach you to be more careful with it. I've already had to fix it five times since I finished building it."  
  
All eyes toVegeta.  
  
"Maybe if it had been better constructed I wouldn't keep breaking it" Vegeta began with a smirk. "Of course you probably aren't capable of doing anything less than a second rate job."  
  
All eyes turned to Bulma who was just on the verge of exploding.  
  
"Well excuse me Mr. High-and-Mighty" Bulma said with a scowl. "If the gravity room is so far below your high standards maybe I shouldn't bother fixing it at all. In fact I don't think I will."  
  
All eyes shifted to Vegeta who looked like he was about ready to pop a blood vessel.  
  
"How dare you refuse to fix it!" Vegeta bellowed. "After I saved your sorry butt I'd think you'd be just a little bit grateful."  
  
All were now on Bulma who had now totally lost it.  
  
"Grateful!" Bulma shouted, "You're the one who should be grateful for me taking you in the first place!"  
  
They turned to Vegeta.  
  
"You are coming with me right now woman" Vegeta said in fury uncrossing his arms and clinching his fists "if I have to force you to fix it I will."  
  
Again they turned to Bulma.  
  
"I'd like to see you try you hairy ape!" Bulma retorted.  
  
Again, they look to Vegeta.  
  
"You asked for it woman" Vegeta said with a wicked smile.  
  
Everyone looked toward Bulma who now looked rather worried.  
  
"Oh Kami! What have I gotten myself into?" thought Bulma as she saw the mischievous look that entered the saiyajin's eyes.  
  
To everyone in the room it seemed almost as if Vegeta suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of Bulma. The board members watched in shock as he hefted the screaming woman up and threw her over his shoulder.  
  
"AAAHHH! Put me down you stupid monkey!" Bulma screamed pounding her fists as hard as she could onto his back. She kicked her feet as hard as she could flinging her high heels off her feet.  
  
"Only if you promise to walk out of here quietly with me" Vegeta said laughing equally hard at her pitiful attempts to squirm out of his iron grip and the shocked looks on the surrounding human's faces.  
  
"NEVER!" Bulma cried in anger and frustration.  
  
"Then I'll just have to carry you there" said Vegeta still laughing.  
  
"You'll pay for this Vegeta!" Bulma ranted struggling harder as the laughing saiyajin carried her out of the conference room and passed the shocked office worker's cubicles. "I swear I'll kill you!" she screamed as he entered the elevator and its closing doors blocked them from sight.  
  
Everyone was silent still staring at the elevator until one of the female board members broke the silence. "I wish he'd carry me off like that" she sighed. She shrugged when she was met with disbelieving glances.  
  
"Oh dear Mr. Briefs" cried Ms. Shortcakes "Should we call the police or something?"  
  
All eyes turned to the President who looked remarkably calm for a man who had just witnessed his daughter being carried off by a disreputable looking character. "No Ms. Shortcakes" he said calmly getting up from his seat "it probably wouldn't do much good if you did. Besides my daughter can take care of herself." Everyone's jaws dropped as he began to exit the conference room. Suddenly he turned around "Oh, you all are dismissed" he said before retreating into his office and closing the door.  
  
Mr. Briefs listened through his door as the entire office erupted into conversation. "I'm glad the Misses isn't at home" thought Mr. Briefs "I think this is going to be one of their worst fights yet. I doubt there will be peace in the house for the rest of the day."  
  
*** Mirai Bulma furiously dug through the rubble in search of the missing child. Everyone else had gone and given up but her. She went back to her lab and got her equipment designed to detect life forms and used it to locate the girl. Upon reaching the child she was distressed to find her slight body pinned beneath a large beam. The sight was heart wrenching. All that was left of her cloths was a few small tatters of blue cloth and her red hair was thickly caked with blood.  
  
She muttered a curse under her breath and looked around for a piece of timber to use as a lever. After finding what she needed she laid it on a nearby chunk of concrete and strained with all her might to lift the piece of lumber that had pinned the unconscious child to the ground. Her concentration was broken by the sound of maniacal laughter from behind her. She spun around and glared at the laugh's owner in defiance.  
  
"Well, well what do we have here?" 17 said with a cocky smirk. "If it isn't Bulma Brief's. Tell me where's the other half of the Briefs Crusaders?"  
  
"He's making sure that you never have a chance to destroy our world" Bulma answered.  
  
"Really now" 18 said as she joined her brother. "You are delusional."  
  
"We finally get our chance to get rid of the brains behind our constant headache my sister" he said.  
  
"Too bad the brawn isn't here as well" 18 said with a laugh.  
  
"You won't find it that easy to kill me" Bulma said with a defiant smile. Quickly she threw an orb at her would be attackers. They tried to jump out of the way but were struck by the enormous surge of power it gave off. 18 dropped from the sky unconscious but 17, who had managed to miss the brunt of the jolt, merely fell to the ground.  
  
"What did you do to my sister!" he demanded pushing himself up off the ground.  
  
"Her systems shutdown because they couldn't handle the power. Unfortunately it's not permanent" Bulma said with a satisfied grin. "Now you're going to join her in dreamland" Bulma said tossing another orb at 17.  
  
17 shot a ki blast at the orb destroying it and stood up. Having used her last electricity grenade Bulma knew she had no choice but to run. She shot the child an apologetic glance "I'll be back for you" she promised the girl under her breath and ran for the nearest structure.  
  
17 cut her off and lifted Bulma in the air and dropped her to the ground. She slammed into the ground with a sickening thud and coughed up blood when she tried to breathe.  
  
"You won't be the first to die don't worry" 17 said evilly. He shot a blast at the site where the girl lay trapped and Bulma screamed in anger and fear as it went up in a tremendous explosion.  
  
"You monster" Bulma spat at the android as he laughed.  
  
"Now it's your turn," he said looking down at the battered woman on her hands and knees before him. "Where is your protector now that you need him? He must not care that his mother is about to die."  
  
Bulma looked up at him with hatred and her eyes speaking of an iron will that refused to give up. "The fight against you doesn't end with me," she said. "He will return," she said "and will continue the fight on his own."  
  
17 raised his hands and charged a ki ball in his hand.  
  
Mirai Trunks started awake to a loud banging sound and found himself once again in the time machine.  
  
"Trunks" he heard Mr. Po Po's voice calling. "Are you alright?"  
  
Trunks rubbed his eyes, whipped the sweat from his brow, leaned forward and pressed the button releasing the hatch. "The same nightmare again" he thought to himself . "Every night this week the same nightmare."  
  
Mr. Po Po was glad to see that Trunks was all right but he could also see that he was not in good spirits. "When I got up and saw your time machine was still here I thought something happened to you."  
  
"Thank you for your concern" Trunks said, "As you can see I'm fine."  
  
"Yes" Mr. Po Po ventured "but perhaps a little distressed?"  
  
Trunks gaze went up to meet Po Po's. Trunks was surprised by the strange being's astute observation. After all he barely knew him.  
  
"Yes" Trunks said "I spent a restless night worrying about my mother in the future."  
  
"Would it help to talk about it?" Mr. Po Po asked.  
  
"I don't know if I should" Trunks said. "I shouldn't disclose too much about the future."  
  
"Perhaps even telling a little might help," Po Po encouraged placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You are already carrying a great burden. You don't need to take on any more than necessary."  
  
"Very well," Trunks said. "I received a call from my mother yesterday and she was in danger. I wanted to go and help her but she insisted that I stay here and she would call me in forty-eight hours. I still feel that I should go anyway and I've been struggling to make a decision about what to do. She's helpless without me to protect her."  
  
"Are you sure that she's that helpless?" Mr. Po Po asked.  
  
"Yes" Trunks said, "She has no idea how to fight. I need to be there to protect her."  
  
"Were you born a warrior?" Po Po asked.  
  
"Of course not" Trunks said crankily.  
  
"Who took care of you and protected you until you could fight?" Mr. Po Po asked. "Wasn't it your mother?"  
  
"Yes but she did need help at times even then" Trunks said.  
  
"If she needs help she will find a way to get it" Mr. Po Po answered. "Trust her to know when she needs it."  
  
Trunks knew that Mr. Po Po probably was right but he didn't want to admit it. "I guess I'll look for another Dragon Ball. It will keep me occupied until the time comes to take the call," the time traveler said changing the subject.  
  
"Good luck!" Mr. Po Po said realizing that there was nothing more he could say to the young man.  
  
Trunks went back into the time machine. He knew his fears were probably irrational and were probably spurred on by his recurring nightmare of his mother being killed because he wasn't there. He knew that he had left her alone countless times to perform his acts of heroism but his dreams had unnerved him. "Relax Trunks" he reassured himself "you know that she can take care of herself. You just need to trust in her."  
  
He sat down in the pilot's chair and pulled out the Dragon Radar and chose his next target.  
  
*** By the time they reached the gravity room Bulma had stopped screaming and trying to get away because it was to no avail. As Vegeta strode triumphantly into the gravity room Bulma could see that it was damaged worse than the other times. She deduced that the panels of titanium that had fallen from the walls and ceiling probably were the cause of his cuts and bruises.  
  
Vegeta was very pleased with himself. Not only had he bested Bulma in an argument but also he had done it in front of her father and her underlings. He set her down on her feet and stepped back. Her suit was slightly rumpled from her struggling and she made quite a picture. The truth was it was at moments like this, when her features were set in defiance, her eyes flashed with fire, and he could feel her Ki crackling about her with rage that he found her the most attractive. She had remarkably strong Ki for someone who'd never been trained to use it and an undaunted warrior's spirit that he found very pleasing.  
  
"There are your tools," the Saiyajin Prince said in his most authoritative voice "now get to work woman."  
  
Bulma couldn't believe her eyes. Not only had Vegeta single-handedly embarrassed her in front of her father and the entire Capsule Corporation but also he had the nerve to go into her personal, private lab and take her tools. She looked at him. He had crossed his arms once more and he had an imperious grin on his face that made her blood boil even more.  
  
"You may have gotten me here Vegeta" she said mockingly imitating his stance "but I'm not going to fix it."  
  
Vegeta's only visible reaction to her mockery of him was the slight arch of his right eyebrow. "You're not leaving here until you fix it," he stated.  
  
"You can't keep me here" Bulma snapped, "I'm leaving." She started for the door only to have him step in her way. She quickly darted to the side and he grabbed for her but she got away and began running for the door. Thinking that she had made it to the homestretch she ran full out only to slam into Vegeta who had suddenly appeared in front of her. She saw his arms come down toward her as he tried to grab her once more. Reacting quickly Bulma ducked and slid past him out the door.  
  
Vegeta was surprised that she had slipped away again. When he looked over his shoulder he saw her start to close the door to the gravity room and smiled. She may have been physically weak but she was clever. He spun around and grabbed her wrist before she could touch the button. Vegeta was thoroughly enjoying himself. His predatory nature found this game of cat and mouse with the beautiful woman exciting. When she looked up at him in surprise he smirked "You weren't going to try to lock me in there now were you?" Vegeta asked his captured quarry.  
  
Bulma was shocked to find from the expression on Vegeta's face that he was enjoying this barbaric game. "Maybe I should just fix it," she thought. "No," she said to herself regaining her determination "I won't give him the satisfaction of winning. Vegeta may have the lion's share of pride but I have my pride too."  
  
"Let go of me Vegeta," she said calmly looking the saiyajin in the eyes.  
  
"Not until you promise to fix the gravity room" was the prince's answer.  
  
Bulma tried to wrench her wrist out of his grasp but it was no use. "LET GO!" she shouted struggling against his iron grip. Full of rage and frustration Bulma took her free hand and slapped him as hard as she could.  
  
For a moment Vegeta stood in shock. He had felt her Ki rise higher than he'd ever felt it before but he still hadn't expected her to strike him. He had barely felt the physical blow but it was also a blow to his pride and that was the worst kind of blow he could ever receive.  
  
"HOW DARE YOU!" he bellowed grabbing her other free hand. He pushed her up against the wall and held her there coming only inches from her face growling.  
  
When Bulma looked at the uncontrolled rage in his dark eyes and she was afraid of him. She hadn't been afraid of him in a long time and it was unsettling. She thought about backing down and giving up but somehow she couldn't. "Let me go Vegeta" she said firmly.  
  
Vegeta had managed to get a handle on his anger and he smiled at her irrepressible defiance. He couldn't help but muse how saiyajin like she could be at times. "Now why would I want to do that?" he asked.  
  
"Because if you don't" Bulma said smiling evilly "I'll kick you somewhere it will hurt a lot worse than where I slapped you."  
  
Vegeta laughed and leaned against her knees with one of his legs pinning them to the wall. "Never reveal your attack plan to the enemy," he said meeting her defiant gaze with his own.  
  
"You can't hold me here forever you know" Bulma said. "Even you eventually will get tired."  
  
"Maybe I can't" the saiyajin consented "but there are other ways of making your life a living hell until you fix the gravity room."  
  
"Such as?" Bulma asked not completely sure if she really wanted to know the answer. He had the smug look on his face that usually indicated he had a wickedly clever idea. From past arguments she knew that what followed was usually his trump card.  
  
"If you don't agree to fix the gravity room right now" the Prince said, "I'll follow you everywhere you go not less than five steps behind. And when I say everywhere I mean everywhere."  
  
When he said this Bulma got a mental picture of walking into her bathroom to take a shower and Vegeta following her. She blushed fiercely and Vegeta laughed. "YOU PERVERT!" she shouted, "You would enjoy that wouldn't you!"  
  
"You flatter yourself woman" Vegeta retorted. "I probably would enjoy it" Vegeta thought to himself "but I'll never admit that to her."  
  
"You watch me often enough" Bulma answered "I'm sure you'd get a real kick out of watching me 24-hours-a-day."  
  
"I'm not the one who watches you" Vegeta said, "You are the one who watches me."  
  
"In your dreams!" Bulma shouted. "Oh Kami" Bulma thought to herself "I didn't think he noticed. I thought I hid my feelings so well."  
  
"Any dream I had about you would be a nightmare!" Vegeta countered. "I don't give a damn about you."  
  
"Sure you do" Bulma countered "That's why you saved my life, why you're wearing the clothes I gave you, and why you kissed me. Admit it Vegeta I'm the prettiest woman you've ever seen."  
  
Her blunt statement took Vegeta aback. As much as he tried to deny it he did have feelings for this pathetic earth woman. "You mean nothing to me" he said to her with a note of uncertainty in his voice.  
  
Bulma had watched in fascination as his bravado had melted away during their last exchange. "I wonder if he really does care about me," she pondered looking intently into his eyes for the answer.  
  
Vegeta watched as she suddenly fixed her gaze on his. He had gotten trapped in the depths of those blue eyes once before, in the canyon after the battle with the probe, and he wasn't about to get trapped again so he looked away.  
  
Watching him look away from her suddenly gave Bulma an idea of what would shake the Saiyajin Prince up enough to affect her escape. "Vegeta" Bulma said softly "Why aren't you looking at me? You're afraid of me aren't you?"  
  
Vegeta at once met her gaze again upon hearing her challenge. Suddenly her lips were on his. He stiffened in surprise and tried to suppress the thrill it gave him. When she pulled away from him he tired to fight the strong urge he had to return the kiss but she was just inches away and her lips seemed to draw him.  
  
Bulma pulled away more than a little disappointed. His grip on her had tightened rather than released. She gasped in surprise when she felt his lips on hers. A shiver ran down her spin and she found herself answering his lips with hers. The kiss was long, passionate, surprisingly tender and it took her breath away.  
  
Vegeta pulled her into his arms and kissed her again. He was pleased that her lips hungrily met his. He drunk in her intoxicating scent, the sweet taste of her lips, and the softness of her fragile form as he pressed it against his own firm, muscular body. He had been trying to fight the powerful emotion that this woman had inspired in his cold heart but it only seemed to grow in intensity as time went on and become even harder to repress. Somehow holding her in his arms seemed to fill the emptiness he usually felt inside. He knew in every fiber of his being that he could never be content again unless he had her for his mate. He wanted her more than he had ever wanted anything in his life. "What have you done to me woman?" he thought looking intently into her face. "I have traveled the universe and defeated countless warriors and yet you, who is by far my weakest opponent, hold a power over me that is useless to fight."  
  
When the kiss ended Bulma opened her eyes to find him staring at her with a look in his eyes she could only describe as wonder. She smiled and he returned it with his lopsided smirk but this time it had softness to it that she had never seen before. She felt his strong arms pull her close once more and his lips caressed her temple, her cheek and then her neck sending shivers of pleasure down her spine. She wondered for a moment if she might not be dreaming. She had wanted this to happen for so long that she couldn't believe that it was real.  
  
"Bulma" he whispered in her ear reaching up and touching her face "I want you for my mate."  
  
Bulma stepped back and looked at him in question and shock. Not only had he used her name for the first time instead of his usual "woman" but also he was admitting wanting her. She was confused as to in what way he actually did want her though. She knew he only used the term "mate" when referring to married couples like Goku and Chi Chi and her mother and father. "You mean like boyfriend and girlfriend?" she asked half-hoping that she was wrong.  
  
"No," he said, "Not like what that fool Yamcha was to you. When saiyajin mate, they mate for life. There is no trial period."  
  
"You mean like husband and wife then" Bulma stated "Are you asking me to marry you Vegeta?"  
  
Vegeta's smirk turned cocky. "I am saiyajin I have no need for human ceremonies. If you were to become my mate it would be the saiyajin way."  
  
"Isn't this what I want?" Bulma thought "All I've ever desired was someone to be loyal to me and to cherish me for the rest of my life. Here he is offering that to me without hesitation. Does it really matter if it's in the human way or the saiyajin way? I'm so afraid of having my heart broken again. I know I love him but does he love me?"  
  
"Do you accept me woman?" Vegeta whispered, "For what I am? I can't be human and you can't be saiyajin so we both must sacrifice something if we wish to be together."  
  
"Do you love me Vegeta?" Bulma asked him.  
  
"It's difficult to say" Vegeta stumbled out after a moment "Saiyaijin do not have words for emotions as they were viewed as weaknesses. Mates were paired that were expected to produce the strongest offspring and not for emotional reasons as you humans do. I only know that I wish to be with you and protect you. I want you to belong to me and no one else."  
  
"That's the most beautiful description of love I've ever heard" Bulma said with tears in her eyes.  
  
"Why do you cry?" he asked puzzledly wiping a tear from her cheek "Are you unhappy?"  
  
"No" Bulma said, "Humans cry when they're happy too and I'm happy."  
  
"Do you love me Bulma?" he asked.  
  
"Yes" Bulma said, "It's against my better judgment but I do."  
  
Vegeta laughed and took her into his arms with the first genuine smile Bulma had ever seen on his face. "Then you will be my mate?" he asked.  
  
"Yes I will be your mate" Bulma said resting her head on his shoulder.  
  
"Something tells me that the gravity room won't get fixed today," he said in a deep sexy voice that made Bulma's knees weak. He kissed her again and then swept her up into his arms with a wicked smile.  
  
***  
  
Trunks sat in the time machine and tapped on the control panel nervously.  
  
"Take it easy" he told himself "She's only ten minutes late."  
  
He grew increasingly anxious as the minutes began to tick by. At last he heard static coming over the speakers.  
  
"Mom!" he called into the microphone as he pushed the button.  
  
"Hello?" he heard a familiar sounding female voice question.  
  
"Who is that?" Trunks asked.  
  
"Oh thank goodness I was beginning to think that this thing wasn't working" the voice said. "Trunks it's me Chi Chi."  
  
"Chi Chi?" neither he nor his mother had seen Chi Chi since Gohan's death. She had left to see if she could find more help when the city began to fall apart. No one came to help and Chi Chi never showed up again. He had a good mind to ask her why she had been hiding all this time and abandoned he and his mother but he didn't. He knew that people's good intentions and plans could be changed in a moments notice in a world constantly at war. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm just fine. I've been in the city of West End. We've kind of kept to ourselves and have been left alone to a good extent because of it" Chi Chi explained. 'A good portion of the city is still standing here. Your mother showed up here late yesterday and I couldn't believe it. She told me everything."  
  
"Chi Chi" Trunks asked, "Where is my mother?"  
  
"Oh" she said sounding a bit hesitant "She's on an errand and she told me if she wasn't here on time to call you for her. She's not back yet."  
  
"What is she doing?" Trunks asked feeling a knot forming in the pit of his stomach.  
  
"She went back to get everyone to evacuate to here" she said reluctantly. "It seems that things have gotten pretty bad since you left."  
  
This was just what he had been worried about. She was trying to take too much upon herself while he was gone. Trunks cursed under his breath.  
  
"Trunks what would your mother say if she heard you talking like that?" Chi Chi scolded. "I know Bulma raised you with better manners than that!"  
  
Trunks smiled. She was still the same old Chi Chi. "Chi Chi" Trunks began ignoring the tongue lashing "could you have my mom call me as soon as she gets back?"  
  
"No apology? I guess you have too much of your father in you." the woman began with a slight sigh. "I'll have her call. Don't worry she'll be back soon."  
  
"Thanks Chi Chi" he said feeling a slight pain in his heart at the mention of his father.  
  
"Don't worry Trunks" Chi Chi said, "Bulma's the toughest person I know. She'll be fine."  
  
Despite her confident words Trunks could pick up the undercurrent of uncertainty that lingered there. "I hope so Chi Chi" Trunks replied. He knew that if anyone was capable of surviving it was his mother. Her struggles had indeed made her one of the strongest people he knew. Long after many people had quit fighting she had pressed on never giving up hope. He just feared that she hadn't bitten off more than she could chew this time. He just couldn't shake the terrible feeling of foreboding that had overwhelmed him from the night before.  
  
"Chi Chi" Trunks asked, "Can you give me the coordinates there?"  
  
"Coordinates?" Chi Chi asked "I really wouldn't know how to. Why?"  
  
"I want to come back now" Trunks replied, "If you give me the coordinates to where you are I can land there."  
  
"Oh," Chi Chi said sounding a little bit relieved "but I don't know how to figure that out. I have no charts or anything like that."  
  
"I'll tell you how" Trunks assured her.  
  
"Then let's get you home" Chi Chi said.  
  
To find out what happens during the Saiyajin mating Ritual please check out my short story Ritual of Passion. 


End file.
